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MEN OF MARK IN CONNi:CTICUT 



Men of Mark in Connecticut 



IDEALS OF AMERICAN LIFE TOLD IN BIOG- 
RAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF 
EMINENT LIVING AMERICANS 



EDITED BY 

COLONEL N. G. OSBORN 

EDITOB "new haven REGISTER" 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 
"What Connecticut Stands For in the History of the Nation' 

By SAMUEL HART, D.D. 

PRESIDENT CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



WILLIAM R GOODSPEED 

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 
1906 



Copyright 1904 by B. F. Johnson 



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lUbriARY of CONG 
i'wo Copies liecoivj. 

APR 14 1908 

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Press of Springfield Printing and Binding Company, Springfield, Mass. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE 

The difficulties to be encountered in compiling and editing a 
work of this character are many and varied, and it remains for 
public opinion to say with what success they have been met and over- 
come. The aim has been to make a representative presentation of 
the men in the State of Connecticut who have contributed in 
marked ways to its professional, industrial, and commercial integrity. 
It would be an affectation to claim that the work has been thoroughly 
done. It has in some cases been impossible to secure the cooperation 
and support of men of mark who belong in a book of this character. 
At the same time a larger and more sincere effort has been made to 
achieve the end in view, without exercising a snobbish discrimination, 
than has ever before been attempted. In asking the indulgence of 
the public, we do so in the knowledge that our purpose has been 
to group together, so far as possible, the men and their records, 
modestly worded, to whose usefulness the historian must in time 
turn for the human documents necessary to his purpose. 

I must in a word express my appreciation of the work under- 
taken and accomplished by those who have been associated with me, 
and in particular the many, whose biographies will be found be- 
tween the covers of the "Men of Mark," Avho, averse to publica- 
tions of this character on account of past experiences, have been 
willing to take at its face value my characterization of its seriousness 
and assist me in making it possible. Finally I ask the indulgence 
of the public for what will unquestionably be detected as short- 
comings on the part of the Editor and his associates, still short- 
comings though anticipated so far as possible. 

September 20, 1906. N". G. Osborn, Editor. 



MEN OF MARK IN CONNECTICUT 

Col. N. G. Osborn, Editor-in-Chief 



ADVISORY BOARD 



HON. WILLIAM S. CASE Hartford 

JUDGE SUPERIOR COURT 

HON. GEORGE S. GODARD .... Hartford 

STATE lilBRARIAK 

HON. FREDERICK J. KINGSBURY, LL.D. . . Waterbury 

MEMBER corporation YALE UNIVERSITY 

CAPTAIN EDWARD W. MARSH .... Bridgeport 

TREASURER PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK 

COL. N. G. OSBORN New Haven 

EDITOR NEW HAVEN REGISTER 

HON. HENRY ROBERTS Hartford 

GOVEaNOB 

HON. JONATHAN TRUMBULL .... Norwich 

LIBRARIAN PUBLIC LIBRARY 



WHAT CONNECTICUT STANDS FOR 

IN THE 

HISTORY OF THE NATION 

(HE English settlement of the territory now included in the 
State of Connecticut was three-fold in origin and purpose, as 
it was in place. Soon, however, the three streams of history 
and of influence were merged into one, and the annals of the colony 
and the State show how they were combined and what has been the 
strength of the resultant force in character and in action. There 
came to Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford in 1635 (following the 
steps of earlier emigrants from Plymouth, who made no permanent 
settlement) a band of men who had been given, not imgrudgingly, 
permission to remove from the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Their 
leaders were men of strong character and of strong will under the 
restraint of sound judgment. Thomas Hooker and Eoger Ludlow, 
with whom we might name William Pynchon, though he never really 
came under the Jurisdiction of the new colony, were not satisfied 
with the ecclesiastical and civil principles which prevailed in Boston 
and its neighborhood. They came with their followers to the western 
bank of the Great Eiver, then the very limit of civilization, that 
they might found a commonwealth which should be puritanically 
religious on its religious side, but in which citizenship should not 
be dependent on church membership, and laws should have their 
binding force from the will of those who were to be governed by 
them. It was a settlement made by practical men under the guid- 
ance of a practical preacher and a practical lawyer. In the same 
year John Winthrop, the younger, representing a company in which 
the names of Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brook were prominent, 
sent a party to build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut Eiver. 
Lieutenant Lion Gardiner was put in command of the garrison, and 
the place became for a few years the seat of an independent govern- 
ment. Soon merged in Connecticut, it contributed to it no small 
part of the experience of the Pequot War, and helped at least to 



16 WHAT CONNECTICUT STANDS FOR 

give an element of caution in meeting danger, combined with vigor 
in warding it off. Three years later, in 1638, another company came 
from England by way of Boston, and took up their home at the fair 
haven — they presently called it the New Haven — at the mouth of 
the Quinnipiack. They were independents, like the pilgrims who 
had settled Plymouth; there was among them a strange combination 
of spirit of almost fanatical ecclesiasticism and a spirit of commercial 
adventure ; they were led by the theologian, John Davenport, and the 
wealthy merchant, Theophilus Eaton; they expected to found a 
theocracy in which the saints should rule, and they hoped to increase 
the worldly prosperity of which some of their number already had 
a goodly share. With this company there were affiliated from the 
next year Milford and Guilford, the latter being the best example 
of a community of yeomen devoted to agriculture. Doubtless the 
religious and civil history of the future State was largely molded 
by the founders of the Eiver colony, while its record for neighborli- 
ness and bravery may be traced back to Saybrook fort; and speaking 
generally, we look to New Haven for strong intellectual influences 
and for the sources of material prosperity fostered by invention and 
secured by trade. 

Early in 1639 the freemen of the three towns in the Eiver colony 
met in a general assembly and, adopting the first written constitu- 
tion in history, " associated and conjoined themselves to be one 
public state or commonwealth." The government which they estab- 
lished, with no recognition of King or parliament or of any devolved 
authority, was a pure democracy, the example and pattern of all the 
democracies in this land or elsewhere; and the recognition of the 
three to-svns, each with its reserved rights, was also the example 
and pattern of all true federal governments. The germ of the 
Nation was in that assembly of citizens and in their work, and all 
the history of our land has been profoundly affected by it. As its 
immediate consequence there sprang at once into existence an abso- 
lutely independent state; its members were citizens of England, and 
not unwilling to be called by the name, but they could hardly be 
called English subjects, and their commonwealth, though a colony, 
was not a dependency of the crown. Wlien, at the restoration of 
the monarchy in the mother country, Winthrop presented a petition 
for a charter and a charter was granted, it was not asked or given 



IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION ^"^ 

for the bestowal of rights or the creation of obligations; on the con- 
trary, it contained an acknowledgment on the part of what was 
vaguely recognized as having a permanent authority over the land, 
of the existing condition of things. So liberal was it in its provis- 
ions, that one wonders how it was brought about that the sovereign 
and his counsellors ever gave their approval to it ; and so well adapted 
was it to the needs of the people here that for more than forty years 
after the Declaration of Independence it was retained as the funda- 
mental law of the state. In but one instance, that, namely, of Sir 
Edmimd Andros, was Connecticut called upon to submit to a gov- 
ernor who was not of her own choice; she followed her own laws, 
and not those of the English parliament until she formally adopted 
them as her own; she distributed estates according to the Scripture 
rule which she had accepted and in defiance of the English statutes, 
and her action was upheld by the supreme tribunal across the sea; 
she even refused the writ of habeas corpus because her legislature 
had not formally incorporated it in her code. And all this she did 
quietly and soberly. " The consistent policy of Connecticut," says 
an historian — and it would be easy to prove the assertion in detail 
through many years — " was to avoid notoriety and public attitudes ; 
to secure her privileges without attracting needless notice; to act 
as intensely and vigorously as possible when action seemed necessary 
and promising; but to say as little as possible, yield as little as 
possible, and evade as much as possible when open resistance was 
evident folly. Her line of public conduct was precisely the same after 
as before 1663 (the date of the charter). And its success was re- 
markable; it is safe to say that the diplomatic skill, forethought, 
and self-control shown by the men who guided the course of Con- 
necticut during this period have seldom been equaled on the larger 
fields of the world's history. As products of democracy they were 
its best vindication." 

An important result of the granting of the charter was the 
end of the separate existence of the colony of New Haven. It did 
not submit altogether willingly to its inclusion in the boundaries 
assigned to what had thus far been a neighboring jurisdiction; but 
its leaders saw it was better to fall into the hands of latitudinarian 
Connecticut than into those of the papist Duke of York, and the 
democratic element which had gained strength in the aristocratic 



lo WHAT CONNECTICUT STANDS TOR 

colony welcomed the gift of civil rights and privileges. The union 
was of advantage to each of the parties which entered into it, and 
to the whole commonwealth; and the public interests were served by 
a succession of faithful men, whose names, when once they had been 
chosen to office, appear again and again as in the same place of 
responsibility until their death. It must suffice to allude to the gen- 
erous and willing part taken by Connecticut in the plans and acts of 
defence taken by the united colonies of New England, a promise of 
the part she was to play in the greater struggles of which notice will 
be presently made. 

From the very first Connecticut had carefully provided for 
public education. The requirement of a common school in each 
town of fifty householders and a grammar school in each county, 
led to a desire for the establishment of a collegiate school to which 
those could resort who found Cambridge too far away; and the 
first year of the eighteenth century saw the foundation of such an 
institution at Saybrook, which was removed fifteen years later to 
New Haven, and there gained its name and its fame as Yale College, 
and was built up by the benefactions of Dean Berkeley and others. 
Under its shadow in its former home there was gathered in 1708, 
at the call of Governor Saltonstall and the legislature, the synod 
which framed the Saybrook platform, an act of ecclesiastical states- 
manship giving strength to the Congregationalism which elsewhere 
lacked cohesion; and from its walls in its new home went out in 
1722 Samuel Johnson and other leaders of an indigenous episcopacy 
which was almost immediately granted legal recognition, and never 
deserved the charge of being the agent of alien denomination. The 
ecclesiastical history of Connecticut runs, in a very interesting way, 
parallel to its civil history. The ministers have had a great in- 
fluence, willingly recognized and almost always soberly used; to 
recoimt their names would be to suggest the whole course of progress 
in learning, in character, and in all that makes up true prosperity. 

When called upon to render assistance in the conflicts of the 
English against the French on this continent, Connecticut, without 
saying much about it, constantly sent to the front many more than 
the number of men assigned to her as her quota. At Ticonderoga 
and Louisbourg officers and men learned lessons which they prac- 
ticed later with good result, not on their own soil, for it was scarce 



IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION 19 

invaded by those against whom they were called to contend, but at 
Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, and at Yorktown. To the cause of 
common liberty Connecticut, though she might have pleaded that 
she had less than others at stake, contributed most generously the 
conscientious ability of her leaders, the no less conscientious service 
of a large proportion of her able-bodied men, and unstinted gifts 
from her treasury. To the Declaration of Independence there were 
affixed on her behalf the names of Roger Sherman, Samuel Hunting- 
ton, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott, men whose public career, 
could it be sketched here, would tell the history of their times. Her 
governor during those momentous years was Jonathan Trumbull, 
friend and counsellor of General Washington, the " Brother Jona- 
than " of popular speech, to whose wise forethought successive cam- 
paigns owed more than was or is commonly known. Israel Putnam 
led her troops and directed the whole action at Bunker Hill, and 
was soon made major-general for further service; Thomas Knowlton, 
gallant and brave, fell as he turned the tide of battle at Harlem 
Heights; Nathan Hale gladly gave up his true young life for his 
country — a nobler and more helpful gift than years of service could 
have been; from many homes and from the State's council of 
safety, always vigilant, went men and supplies to Valley Forge; Wil- 
liam Ledyard, brave defender of the fort at Groton, was slain by 
his own sword in the hour of defeat; Joseph Trumbull and Jere- 
miah Wadsworth were commissary-generals for nearly the whole 
period of the war; and to help the work of the State's little navy 
David Bushnell invented the torpedo. 

When the struggle was over and independence was acknowledged, 
the influence of Connecticut, the State which had had long experience 
in self-government, was seen even more plainly than in her quiet 
and efficient service during the war. Two of the signers of the great 
Declaration, Huntington and Wolcott, were governors during the 
^'critical period" which soon followed; Sherman, whose name ap- 
pears not only on this document, but also on the Declaration of 
Rights and the Articles of Confederation, had the further honor of 
signing the Constitution ; and with him was associated in the framing 
of this document William Samuel Johnson, a man v;ho (as was well 
known) had not favored a forcible separation from the mother 
country, but whom his native State honored for his integrity, his 
legal ability, his learning, and his active fidelity to her interests. 



20 -WHAT CONNECTICUT STANDS FOE 

There is no doubt that it is to these Connecticut men that the Con- 
stitution of the United States owes provisions which rendered it 
both practicable and acceptable at the time of its adoption, and 
which, moreover, have commended its wisdom in all the years that 
have passed. The principles of the fimdamental orders of 1639, 
tested by experience, were thus brought into a wider application ; and 
they were expounded by a Connecticut man who was called to be the 
first chief justice of the new republic, Oliver Ellsworth, conspicuous 
for public and private virtues, Jonathan Trumbull, the younger, 
presided over the House of Eepresentatives in the second Congress. 
Oliver Wolcott served for a time as Secretary of the Treasury, and 
Eoger Griswold as Secretary of War. 

The political history of the State has never been greatly dis- 
turbed except when the waves of controversy and party strife, mov- 
ing over the whole country, have reached the land of steady habits; 
for the excitement and bloodless revolution which in 1818 led to the 
adoption of a Constitution was political only because ecclesiastical 
strife had passed into the political arena and politicians had taken 
up ecclesiastical differences. The charter government, surviving 
changes of civil administration, fell because the " standing order " 
of Congregationalism fell ; and the small majority who felt that they 
were suffering from an ecclesiastical tyranny secured the formal 
equality of all citizens before the law. But a full account of this 
change in its inception and its accomplishment must be sought in 
detailed histories. And it is impossible here to do more than allude 
to the influence, far-reaching and long-continuing, of the colonies 
which Connecticut sent to the western part of New York, to New 
Connecticut (better known now as the Western Reserve), and to 
other parts of the country as soon as it was possible to open them 
to emigration. 

The conduct of the affairs of the State, still in its theory a typi- 
cal democracy, did not in quiet times depend largely upon the per- 
sonal ability of those who held the office of governor ; for the supreme 
power was in the general assembly of citizens, and the affairs of state 
almost, as one might say, administered themselves. And when a 
great crisis came and the struggle for the preservation of the Union 
began, the flexibility and practicability of the system still were 
adequate for all needs. The towns took action, as they could readily 



IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION 21 

and promptly do; the governor took action as he knew that he could 
do with the body of citizens anticipating his plans; with unselfish 
devotion the State kept her quota of men more than full and sent 
into the service of the Union more men in all than the number 
which appeared on her militia roll. William A. Buckingham be- 
came the War Governor by successive election after the ancient cus- 
tom. For the navy, to which in former days of trial the State had 
given Isaac Hull and Thomas McDonough, she now gave Gideon 
Welles in the Cabinet, and Andrew H. Foote, with the two Com- 
modores Rogers and others in the service; and to the roll of the army 
there were added such names as those of Generals Sedgwick, Mans- 
field, Hawley, Tyler, Lyon, and Stedman. But on this phase of 
the history time does not allow us to dwell here, for two aspects of 
the life of the State still call for our attention; the progress of 
learning — never in this communit}^ divorced from religion — and 
the progress in invention and the industrial arts which has kept even 
pace with it. 

Two of the Presidents of Yale College, who largely molded its 
course for the future, Thomas Clap and Ezra Stiles, ended their work 
in the first century of its history; the names of Dwight and Day and 
Woolsey and Porter and the second Dwight suggest growth into the 
university of our own time. Among the leaders of the old theologi- 
cal order many names stand out prominent; it is no derogation of 
the honorable place and work of others to mention Jonathan Ed- 
wards, Lyman Beecher, Leonard Bacon, and Horace Bushnell. The 
Episcopal Church gained her second strength after the Revolution; 
three of her five bishops, Seabury and Brownell and Williams, pre- 
sided over the Church in the whole country; and the two last named 
were presidents of the second college in Connecticut, first called by 
the name of Washington and later named Trinity College. The 
strong purposes and confidence of the Methodists were shown when 
they founded a third institution of higher education, which has 
made great progress in its service to the community. The common 
school system, strengthened by its endowment from the sale of the 
Western Reserve, fell into a decline from which it was rescued by 
the labors of Henry Barnard ; it was long supplemented by academies 
of which but few survive, and it now finds its complement in local 
high schools, so near together that there is scarce a boy or girl of 



22 WHAT CONNECTICUT STANDS FOR 

suitable age in the State who cannot enjoy the benefits of them; at 
least two of these, it may be noted, have handed down the benefits 
of very early benefactions. While New Haven has been in a sense 
the intellectual center, the "wits," including the autlior of McFingal, 
were a coterie in Hartford, where they were followed by Percival and 
Brainard and Mrs. Sigoumey; and Noah Webster must not be for- 
gotten in any enumeration of literary men. To mention any names 
among the writers of our own day might seem invidious ; but we may 
at least name, among scholars and writers of local history, in suc- 
cession to Benjamin Trumbull of an earlier generation, HoUister 
and Beardsley, J. Hammond Trumbull, and Charles J. Hoadly. 
Still, on the whole, it seems to be true of Connecticut that she has 
done things rather than told of them, made history rather than 
written it: caret rate sacro. 

From the first, Connecticut men busily devoted themselves to 
commerce, and for a long time ships from her river and seaports 
sought markets in the West and the East Indies, and for that matter, 
in all available parts of the earth, and brought in oil and other 
treasures of the sea. The interests in traffic of this kind have 
largely passed away; but the spirit of discovery and of travel has 
been more than replaced by the spirit of invention and of manufac- 
ture. We are told that the versatile mechanical genius of the State 
was first conspicuously shown by one Abel Buel; it was Eli Terry 
who began the manufacture of wall-clocks, Eli Whitney to whom 
we owe the truly epoch-making invention of the cotton-gin, and John 
Fitch who first propelled a vessel through water by the power of 
steam. The manufacture of pins — the invention of the machine 
cannot be credited to Connecticut — led to the setting up of brass- 
works; the inventor of the cotton-gin undertook the manufacture of 
fire-arms. In his shop Samuel Colt began to make his revolvers ; and 
then in his own shops he began to construct those instruments of 
precision which have made possible the work of the skilled mechanic 
of these later years and have given it so great encouragement. The 
progress of invention and the mechanical arts in the State has been 
beyond the power of adequate description, and the names of those 
who deserve honor for their part in it are so numerous that it is 
impossible to make any satis? factory selection from them. At first, 
wherever a fall of water could bo found; then wherever coal could 



IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION 23 

be procured; now in almost every place from which goods can be 
carried to a market, there are busy hands at work to guide the ma- 
chines which embody human ingenuity, and human brains as busily 
occupied in devising plans for diminishing labor and increasing its 
product. 

And in all this, from the settlements in the wilderness to the 
work in thriving towns and cities on the lines of the world's traffic, 
from the gathering of a few neighbors discussing a few simple rules 
for the common advantage to the assembly of the representatives of 
a modern State, from the study of the isolated minister to the lec- 
ture-rooms and libraries of the great university, it lias been the work 
of faithful and good men which has been of benefit to its own time 
and has made ready the way for the coming ages. This is true 
everywhere; but probably nowhere is it more evidently true than in 
Connecticut that the record of the men of mark is the story of the 
commonwealth. Qui transtuUt sustinet. 

SAMUEL HART. 



HENRY ROBERTS 




R 



OBERTS, HENRY, the popu- 
lar Governor of Connecticut, 
was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
in January, 1853. His father, George 
Roberts, was a prominent Connecti- 
cut manufacturer, who at the time his 
son was born was in business in 
Brooklyn. The same year he returned 
to his native State to retire to a farm 
in South Windsor. In 18G-i he was 
chosen treasurer of the Hartford Car- 
pet Company and two years later he 
became its president, a position which 
he held for twenty years. He was 
likewise president of the Hartford Woven Wire Mattress Company 
and director in various benevolent and financial institutions. He was 
esteemed as a man of sound judgment, high integrity, and great execu- 
tive and business ability. He was a staunch Republican and a man 
of deep religious convictions. The Governor's mother was Elvira 
(Evans) Roberts. His ancestors came from England in colonial 
days and rendered service to the country in the French and Indian 
Wars, at Bunker Hill and at Valley Forge. The first of the name 
to reach America was William Roberts, who came from England in 
1754. George Roberts held a captain's commission during the Revo- 
lutionary War, where he contributed his full share toward the event- 
ual success of the patriot's cause. On his mother's side the Governor 
is a descendant of John Taylor and of Thomas Taylor, to whom the 
people of Deerfield, Mass., have erected a monument in grateful com- 
memoration of his bravery in the French and Indian Wars. 

Young Henry Roberts spent the early years of his life on his 
father's farm in South Windsor. He was a sturdy youngster whose 
special tastes were for outdoor athletic sports and for reading his- 
tory. Like most country boys he began at an early age to make 



HENRY ROBERTS 37 

hLnself helpful in the farm work. His regular tasks, involving real 
manual labor, increased each year as he grew older and were of great 
advantage to him in strengthening his character and in teaching him 
regular habits. During this formative period of life the influence 
of his mother was particularly strong. She stimulated his youthful 
intellect, taught him high moral principles and left a profound im- 
pression upon his spiritual life. His first school training was re- 
ceived at the public schools of Hartford. He then attended the 
High School and after his graduation in 1873 he entered Yale Col- 
lege, from which he was graduated with the class of 1877. Having 
decided to adopt the legal profession he attended the Columbia Law 
School for one year and then the Yale Law School for the same 
length of time. 

In 1879 Governor Eoberts began his active business career by 
entering the service of the Hartford Woven Wire Company of 
which his father was the president. He had intended to practice 
law, but the death of his father compelled him to remain in business 
to care for the large interests of his family. Having inherited the 
executive ability and commercial acumen of his father he quickly 
took his place among the leading manufacturers and business men 
of the State. By creating industries which give useful employment 
to his fellow citizens, his success has brought prosperity to many 
others. He is president of the Hartford Woven Wire Mattress Com- 
pany and a director in a large number of corporations. Among 
others may be mentioned the Phoenix National Bank, the Hartford 
Trust Company, the State Savings Bank of Hartford, the Hartford 
Electric Light Company, the Farmington River Power Company, 
the Hartford Dairy Company, the States School, Winston, N. C, 
the Y. M. C. A. School, Springfield, Mass., and the Hartford Bed- 
stead Company. 

The Governor's career in politics might be recited under the 
title " From Alderman to Governor in seven years " ; for within that 
short period of time he has risen from a minor position in his city 
to the highest office in the State. Like his father he has always 
been a staunch Republican. In 1897 he was elected an alderman in 
Hartford. In this position he served his fellow citizens so well that 
they sent him in 1899 to represent the city in the State House of 
Representatives. He remained a member of the lower house until 



28 HENRY ROBERTS 

in 1901 he was elected to the Senate from the First District. While 
in the Senate his ability, energy, and loyalty to duty became known 
throughout the State, and while still a member of the upper house 
of the legislature he was nominated and elected Lieutenant-Governor. 
In this position he served from 1903 to 1905. 

When, on September 14, 1904, the Republican State convention 
met in Hartford to nominate a candidate for Governor, it was recog- 
nized that the Lieutenant-Governor was the logical man for the place. 
A short time before, the Republican city convention of Hartford 
adopted a set of resolutions in which was recommended Governor 
Roberts' nomination in these words : " We commend him to the 
consideration of his party in choosing their candidate for Governor, 
as one who has illustrated, in public and in private life, the value 
to a community of an honest, capable, fearless, loyal, and lovable 
man." Mayor Hcnney of Hartford in presenting his nomination 
to the convention declared: "As an Alderman of Hartford, as its 
representative in the lower house of the General Assembly, as Sen- 
ator, as presiding officer of the Senate, as Lieutenant-Governor of 
the State, no man, be he friend or enemy, can say of Henry Roberts 
that he ever shirked his duty or failed to do that duty well. He 
stands before you an honest, capable, energetic, experienced man." 
On the first ballot he was nominated by a large majority. Informed 
of the choice of the convention he thanked his supporters in these 
words : " You have paid mt a great compliment in this expression 
of your confidence and conferred a high honor upon me, and with 
a sincere appreciation of your action and a deep sense of the responsi- 
bility and sacred trust I assume, permit me to signify my acceptance 
of the nomination. If elected it will be my endeavor to give to the 
State an administration during which I shall strive to attain the same 
marked success as that attained by my able and worthy Republican 
predecessors." When the ballots were counted after the election of 
November, 1904, Governor Roberts was found to have a large major- 
ity over his Democratic rival. In voting for him the citizens of 
Connecticut felt confident that they were bestowing their highest 
public office upon a loyal, energetic, capable, and broad-minded busi- 
ness man; a careful student of public questions and a practical man 
of affairs. 

In 1881 Governor Roberts was married to Carrie E. Smith of 



HENRY ROBERTS 39 

Bridgeport. He became the father of three children, two of whom 
are now living. From boyhood, home influences have been a strong 
factor in shaping his career and in urging him on to success. He 
has also received helpful inspiration from companionship with those 
who have been successful in active life and from the serious study 
of history and the lives of great men. He is a member of many 
clubs, among them the Hartford Club, the Country Club, the Hart- 
ford Golf Club, the Republican Club, and the University Club of 
New York. He attends the Congregational Church. From boyhood 
he has been an enthusiastic reader of history and of the biographies 
of the world's greatest men. In later life he has given careful study 
to the science of political economy. He could not have chosen four 
subjects of study more valuable to a public man than law, history, 
biography, and political economy. He now, in the prime of life, 
holds the highest office within the gift of the State of Connecticut. 
When his present term expires, he will take his place among the 
foremost of Connecticut's sons. 



ROLLIN SIMMONS WOODRUFF 

WOODEUFF, ROLLIN SIMMONS, a prominent merchant, 
ex-state senator and the present Lieutenant-Governor of 
Connecticut, was born in Rochester, Monroe County, New 
York, on the fourteenth of July, 1854. He traces his ancestry back to 
Matthew Woodruff, who came from England to America in 1636, and 
finds among his ancestors many representatives of that sturdy stock 
that made possible the beginnings of American history. His parents 
were Jeremiah Woodruff, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Clarisse 
Thompson Woodruff. He spent the early years of his life in a country 
village and when he was fifteen the family moved to New Haven, where 
he obtained his first position in life as errand boy in a hardware store. 
His education was limited to that of the public schools in his native 
town and a brief period of schooling in Lansing, Iowa, but his success 
in all he undertook was as complete and as rapid as that of any college 
man, for he had in him all the material that enables a man to "make 
himself." He engaged in various financial and mercantile enter- 
prises in New Haven and after a number of years became interested in 
the firm of C. S. Mersick & Company, one of the most extensive iron 
and steel wholesale dealers in New England. He has been for many 
years a leading member of the firm and a controlling power of its 
large plant at New Haven. 

Always intensely interested in public affairs and an ardent sup- 
porter of the Republican platform Rollin S. Woodruff has held many 
public offices. He has been president of the Chamber of Commerce, 
state senator in 1903, and during his senatorship he was president pro 
tem of the Senate, and he is the present Lieutenant-Governor of Con- 
necticut, to which office he was elected by a large majority. Each 
office that he has held has added so greatly to the esteem in which 
Lieutenant-Governor Woodruff is generally held that a still greater 
appreciation of his popularity and valuable service is prophesied. A 
leading newspaper has said of him : "Popular, honest, honorable, spot- 
less in character, a plain man of the people, a devoted citizen of the 






xy 





EOLLIN S. WOODRUFF 35 

state, unostentatious but true blue always — that is Eollin S, Wood- 
ruff." 

Lieutenant-Governor Woodruff is a member of the Union League 
Club and of the Young Men's Republican Club of New Haven. Since 
1896 he has been a member of the Governor's Foot Guards. In 1876 
he married Kaomeo Perkins, by whom he had two children, neither of 
whom is now living. 

Mr. Woodruff was nominated for Governor by acclamation at the 
Eepublican State Convention in New Haven, September 20th, 1906, 



THEODORE BODENWEIN 



THE career of Theodore Bodenwein, proprietor of the New Lon- 
don Day and Morning Telegraph, is a striking example of 
the possibilities of American citizenship. Born in Diisseldorf, 
Prussia, in 1864, he came to this country at the age of five, the child 
of German parents in humble circumstances. 

He obtained his education in a country school. At an early age 
he showed an aptitude for the printer's trade, and in 1881 he became 
an apprentice in the office of the New London Day. He passed through 
the different branches of the business, and, from close application and 
observation, obtained a practical knowledge of the newspaper busi- 
ness. By constant application he became a ready and forceful writer. 
In 1885 he became one of the founders of the Morning Telegraph, 
which succeeded the old Evening Telegraph, whose eloquent mouth 
was closed by the sheriff. He remained on the Telegraph in various 
capacities for five years. Then he disposed of the interest. In Sep- 
tember, 1891, he purchased the New London Day, that had been 
founded by Major John A. Tibbets, a well known writer and politi- 
cian. The Day had been leading a checkered career for ten years, 
and was heavily encumbered with debt. The new proprietor quickly 
brought order out of chaos, showing rare executive ability, and the 
paper was put almost at once on a paying basis. Its growth in 
circulation was not over 1,500. To-day (1906)., it exceeds the 6,000 
mark, that is, one paper to every six inhabitants in its field, 
which includes the lower part of New London County. In the first 
ten years Mr. Bodenwein bought four newspaper presses, discarding 
one after the other to accommodate the growing demands of his busi- 
ness. To-day, he has one of the finest equipped newspaper plants in 
Connecticut. The Day establishment is one of the prominent institu- 
tions of New London, on account of the magnitude of its operations. 
His experiment of issuing both morning and evening papers from the 
same office seems to have met with success, as both papers are better 
and more prosperous than ever before. 



THEODORE BODENWEIN 37 

Mr. Bodenwein was married February 21st, 1889, to Miss Jennie 
Muir. He has two children: Gordon, aged twelve, and Elizabeth, 
aged nine. He is a member of numerous clubs and societies. In 
politics he is a Republican. He served as alderman in the New Lon- 
don Court of Common Council and as sewer commissioner of the city, 
1903-6. In 1904 he was unanimously nominated by the Republican 
State Convention for Secretary of State, and had the pleasure of 
being elected by over 37,000 plurality, leading his State ticket and 
only 814 votes behind the vote for President Roosevelt. 

Mr. Bodenwein was re-nominated for Secretary of State, September 
20th, 1906. 



JAMES FRANCIS WALSH 

WALSH, JAMES FEANCIS, lawyer, politician, and public 
official of Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut, at 
present judge of the Criminal Court of Common Pleas of 
Fairfield County, was born in Lewisboro, Westchester County, New 
York, March 15th, 1864. He is the son of James F. Walsh, a black- 
smith by trade, and Annie E. Walsh. Soon after his birth the family 
moved to Eidgefield, Connecticut, where his boyhood was spent and 
where he received a common school education. 

At eighteen James F. Walsh left Eidgefield and went to Green- 
wich to study law with his brother, the Hon. R. Jay Walsh. In 
January, 1888, he was admitted to the Fairfield County Bar and 
immediately opened an office of his own for the practice of law and 
he has maintained it ever since and has built up in the meantime a 
successful and extensive practice. In 1888 he was appointed prosecut- 
ing agent for the county commissioners and in 1899 prosecut- 
ing attorney of the borough court of Greenwich, both of which offices 
he held until 1905. In 1900 he was chosen by the Eepublican party, 
of which he has been an active and loyal member since his majority, 
as State representative, and during his term of office he was chair- 
man of the committee on railroads. In 1903 he was elected State 
senator and was leader of the Senate during his term of office. 
In 1905 and 1906 he was treasurer of State and in 1905 he was ap- 
pointed to his present office of judge of the Criminal Court of Com- 
mon Pleas for Fairfield County. His term of office will expire in 
July, 1909. 

He entered upon his public life at a time when the history of 
Greenwich was undergoing a crisis and in the transition from old 
time conservatism to its present modern and progressive state he 
was one of the chief powers at '^ork. Then, as now, he was intensely 
interested in the highest welfare of his town and untiring in his 
efforts to bring about every posible betterment of public conditions. 

In addition to his professional and political interests Judge Walsh 



JAMES TRANCIS WALSH 41 

has been extensively interested in real estate. He is a director in and 
treasurer of the Byram Land Improvement Company, a director in 
and secretary of the Greenwich Gas and Electric Lighting Company, 
a director in and treasurer of The Riverside Water Company, and 
a director in and attorney for the National Investment Company. 

He is a member of Christ Church (Episcopal), of the Indian 
Harbor Yacht Club, the Riverside Yacht Club, the Hartford Club, and 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

On April 11th, 1893, Judge Walsh was united in marriage to 
Emily Gene Tweedale of Portchester, New York. No children have 
been bom to them. 



ASAHEL W. MITCHELL 

MITCHELL, ASAHEL W., promiuent business and public 
man of North Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 
former representative and State senator, and the holder 
of various town, county, and state offices, was born in Woodbury, 
Connecticut, October 16th, 1865. His parents were Asahel W. and 
Harriet Allen Mitchell. His father was a farmer and a prominent 
member of the Legislature for two terms. 

According to Cothren's History of Ancient Woodbury and infor- 
mation in the possession of Minot Mitchell, Esq., of White Plains, New 
York, the Mitchells were originally from Scotland, but removed to 
Halifax, in Yorkshire, England, where they resided for three genera- 
tions. 

Mathew Mitchell, who is the ancestor of the family in this country, 
was born in 1590. He was a dissenter, and is represented to have 
been not only a very pious man but a man of considerable fortune. 
The dissenters from the Church of England being constantly per- 
secuted and annoyed in their religious worship, he with many others 
of his persuasion determined to leave England; and on the twenty- 
third of May, 1635, they set sail from Bristol and arrived at Boston 
August 17th, the same year. 

He and his family spent the winter at Charlestown and removed 
to Concord in the spring. The next summer he moved to Saybrook, 
Connecticut, and the following spring to Wethersfield. He died at 
Stamford, Connecticut, in 1645, at fifty-five years of age, leaving two 
sons, Eev. Jonathan and David. 

Asahel W. Mitchell, the subject of this article, being of the 
ninth generation from Mathew, was brought up in the village of 
Woodbury and educated at the Parker Academy in his native town. 
His first business connections were with the Bradstreet Commer- 
cial Agency at New Haven, which he left to enter the office of the 
American Eing Company at Waterbury. In 1887 his health failed 
and he gave up his position in Waterbury and returned to Woodbury, 



ASAHEL W. MITCHELL 45 

where he has lived ever since and has been chiefly occupied in 
managing his father's affairs (since his death in 1888) and in the 
performance of public duties. He is superintendent of the Wood- 
bury Water Company and is town clerk, having held the latter office 
since 1895. He has been justice of the peace for eleven years and 
in 1905 he was elected State comptroller. In 1897 he became State 
representative on the Eepublican ticket and during his term served 
on the Kailroad Committee and acted as clerk of the county rep- 
resentatives' meeting. In 1899 he was elected State senator and 
during this term he was chairman of the committees on Education 
and Executive ISTominations and chairman of the county representa- 
tives' meeting. He has also been a town auditor for ten years. 

Personally Mr. Mitchell is progressive and public-spirited, 
staunch in his political allegiance, which has always been with the 
Eepublican party, and in his religious belief, which connects him with 
the Congregational Church. 

On the twenty-eighth day of May, 1901, he married Josephine 
M. Stanton, by whom he has had one child, Katharine Allen Mitchell. 



MORGAN GARDNER BULKELEY 

THE ancestors of Morgan Gardner Bulkeley belonged to the 
educated, liberty-loving class that directed in definite lines 
the early development of New England. Peter Bulkeley, 
fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, heir to a large estate, 
silenced for non-conformity after a ministry for twenty-one years 
in England, emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635, and the following 
year, with a number of adherents, began the settlement of Concord, 
where he preached and died. He married Grace, daughter of Sir 
Eichard Chitwood, or Chetwode, as anciently spelled. Gershom 
Bulkeley was graduated at Harvard College in 1655, and four 
years later married Sarah, eldest daughter of President Charles 
Chauncy. Preacher, soldier, physician, and politician, he served 
the people of Connecticut with marked distinction in all these capaci- 
ties. As a surgeon he occupied the first rank in the colony. As a 
controversialist he struck hard blows. Some of his writings still 
survive. To skip intermediate generations, Eliphalet A. Bulkeley, 
father of Morgan G., was graduated from Yale College in 1824, 
studied law, and after a brief residence in East Haddam moved to 
Hartford, where, during a long career, he was prominently identified 
with the financial institutions of the city. He also took an active 
interest in politics, and was one of the founders of the Eepublican 
party. Among other offices he was Judge, Commissioner of the School 
Fund, State Senator, Speaker of the House of Eepresentatives, etc. 
He married Lydia S. Morgan of Colchester — a woman of strong char- 
acter and uplifting influence. 

Morgan Gardner Bulkeley was born at East Haddam, Connecti- 
cut, December 26th, 1837. Eobust and adventurous, at the age of 
fourteen he left school to tempt fortune in the great world. Enter- 
ing the house of H. P. Morgan & Co., of Brooklyn, ISTew York, as 
errand boy, in seven years he was admitted to the partnership. In 
answer to the call for volunteers he enlisted in the Thirteenth New 
York regiment, and served under General McClellan during the 



MORGAN GARDNER BULKELEY 49 

Peninsular campaign. At the close of his term of military service 
he resumed business in Brooklyn, but on the death of his father in 
1872 returned to Hartford to supervise the financial interests of 
the family. As organizer and first president he launched the United 
States Bank, at first named the United States Trust Company, which 
to-day has by far the largest percentage of surplus of any bank in 
Hartford. 

In 1879 Governor Bulkeley was elected president of the ^tna 
Life Insurance Company, having long been intimately connected with 
the management of its affairs. His father, as president from the date 
of its birth in 1850 till his death in 1872, had safely piloted the 
enterprise through the wealoiess and perils of infancy. Thus, for 
over half a century, with the exception of seven years between 1872 and 
1879, father and son in succession have guided the destinies of the 
institution. Viewed in the light of strength and symmetry of develop- 
ment its record has nowhere been surpassed. 

December 31st, 1879, the capital of the ^tna was $750,000; 
the premium income for the year $3,487,606; the income from invest- 
ments $1,830,695; the total assets $25,592,363, and the surplus to 
policyholders $3,591,665. 

December 31st, 1904, the capital was $2,000,000; premiums for 
the year $12,868,922; income from investments $3,062,633; total 
assets $73,696,178, and surplus to policyholders $8,850,426. 

Life insurance rests on a mathematical basis. Tables of mortality 
generalized from long and wide experience under the law of averages 
give the expectation of life at all ages, from youth onward. It has 
been assumed that money will yield at least four per cent. 

With the basic principles of the business mathematically and 
hence immutably fixed, the measure of success or failure depends upon 
ability of management. Justice in the treatment of patrons, fore- 
sight in the investment of funds, skill in the choice of agents, care 
in the selection of risks, and personal magnetism in bringing a multi- 
tude of diverse and widely separated units into harmonious and 
effective cooperation, are the qualities that, if combined in the head 
of a life insurance company, guarantee in advance that it will out- 
strip all rivals less favorably equipped. Persons in position to form 
a correct opinion unite in crediting to Governor Bulkeley the above 
gifts in full measure. 



50 MORGAN GAEDNEB BULKELEY 

The ^tna led the way in loaning to western farmers. Early 
contracts, although bearing ten per cent, proved even more profitable 
to the borrower than to the lender. Purchasers of land at $1.25 per 
acre through the aid of the capital thus obtained, and the inflow of 
population, in a few years saw it increase in value ten or twenty fold 
or more. As the loans were paid and the rates of interest fell toward 
the standards prevalent in settled communities, the company pushed 
westward, preempting fertile acres and areas of large return. Simul- 
taneously it invested liberally in the bonds of western towns. From 
both sources the income largely exceeded the legal requirement of four 
per cent. 

Till 1861 the company made contracts of insurance only on the 
stock plan. It then began the issue of participating policies, estab- 
lishing a separate department with distinct books, accounts, and 
investments. Patrons can choose between the two. On the partici- 
pating plan the insured pays a sum somewhat in excess of the tabular 
cost, and the difference in due time is returned to him in the form of 
"dividends." On the stock plan he pays the bare cost with a slight addi- 
tion for contingencies. Such profits above the legal reserve as accrue 
from good luck or good management belong to the company. After 
makmg provision as required by law for meeting at maturity all 
contracts, it can dispose of the surplus as it pleases. 

The extraordinary productiveness of the investments of the 
JEtna piled up in the treasury a large sum belonging to the stock. 
To place this where it could never be withdrawn, where it would 
broaden the basis of security, and where it would remain planted in 
perpetuity for the protection of policyholders, parts of it were used 
from time to time to increase the capital, till this now amounts to 
$2,000,000. 

The .^tna has never done business on the tontine plan — a device 
which gives to some large companies a delusive show of strength. Pa- 
trons pay full premiums and forego dividends on the promise that 
the margins with accretions will be returned at the maturity of the 
contract. Meanwhile, the funds thus held in trust are carried as sur- 
plus, while the liability is ignored. Serious complications are likely 
to arise over the disposition of the marginal funds. 

Such are the vicissitudes of life that prosperity, even where 
great, is shadowed by more or less of adversity. The ^tna stands 



MORGAN GARDNER BULKELEY 51 

forth a shining exception to the rule. Its growth has been continu- 
ous, solid, unbroken by reverses. Luck, so-called, has played small 
part in the drama. The explanation is to be found in the mental 
grasp, sound judgment, and far-sightedness of the management. 

The stately home of the company was bought in 1888 from the 
estate of the defunct Charter Oak at a trifle over one-fourth of the 
original cost. Within its walls the ^tna, with its subsidiary acci- 
dent, health, and liability departments, finds ample accommoda- 
tion. 

In Governor Bulkeley an inherited taste for politics has not been 
suffered to wither from disuse. After serving as councilman and 
alderman he was elected mayor of Hartford in 1880 and held the 
chair till 1888. His was essentially a "business" administration, 
conducted as a careful man would manage his own affairs. Inciden- 
tally, he disbursed more than his salary in providing pleasure or com- 
fort for the poor of the city. Among the means of entertainment are 
remembered free excursions on the river, free picnics for children, etc., 
etc. 

In the fall of 1888 the Eepublican Convention of the State 
nominated Mr. Bulkeley by acclamation for governor. He was elected 
by a large majority though at the time the Democratic ticket for 
presidential electors was successful. In the executive chair he con- 
tinued to exercise the same vigilance and care that had made mem- 
orable his long term in the mayoralty. 

Following the custom a new ticket was presented in 1890. The 
only person on either side having a clear majority over all was the 
Democratic candidate for comptroller. The election of the remainder 
of the State officers was thrown into the General Assembly. As the 
two Houses belonged to opposite parties there arose under the pro- 
visions of our constitution a deadlock. Accordingly, Governor Bulke- 
ley and his associates, with the exception of the comptroller, held 
over for two years. During the period the legislation remained in 
abeyance. No appropriations were voted for the maintenance of the 
institutions of the State or for meeting the imperative requirements 
of the treasury. At this crisis the ^tna Life Insurance Company, 
through its president. Governor Bulkeley, volunteered to furnish all 
the money needed to meet every legitimate bill. Instructions were 
issued in regard to the method of making disbursements and keep- 



52 MORGAN GARDNER BULKELET 

ing the accounts. The next General Assembly by public act repaid 
the company in full without disallowance of an item. 

Having twice thrown the votes pledged to him in the General 
Assembly, to secure the reelection of General Hawley to the United 
States Senate, in the fall of 1904 Governor Bulkeley, on the with- 
drawal of General Hawley, entered the field with the view of holding 
his strength to the end. In nominations, and later in the election, 
attention was centered on the senatorship, all other issues being for 
the moment submerged. When the caucus met the following January, 
Governor Bulkeley had about two-thirds of the votes, and the action 
of the caucus was ratified in the General Assembly. In executive 
ability no man in the United States Senate will excel the new member 
from Connecticut. Corporate abuses have provoked a dangerous dis- 
position to assail the bad and good indiscriminately. The friends of 
Senator Bulkeley believe that he will penetrate to the marrow of 
questions affecting the business of the country, and prove a bulwark 
against injustice to legitimate interests. 

A bit of local history, if ever written in full, will bring into view 
the grasp and resourcefulness of Mr. Bulkeley. May 17, 1895, the 
obsolete and inadequate bridge across the Connecticut river at Hart- 
ford was burned. Instinctively the community turned to the ex- 
mayor for relief and guidance. A ferry and, later, a temporary struc- 
ture were provided to meet the immediate needs of the public. By 
act of the legislature a commission was created with Mr. Bulkeley as 
chairman, empowered to build. A bridge district was also created, em- 
bracing Hartford and several towns east of the river, not without oppo- 
sition, for the procedure was new in Connecticut. Time was taken to 
elaborate a comprehensive scheme, not for the hour merely, but for 
a distant future also. Much patient study was given to the subject. 
The plans as slowly developed were supported by the well-nigh 
unanimous approval of the citizens of Hartford — a striking proof of 
the confidence of the public in the wisdom of the commission. As 
a result there is in process of construction a magnificent stone bridge, 
that will endure for ages. Eastward, across the meadows, a broad 
boulevard has taken the place of a narrow driveway. On the west 
side land has been secured by purchase or condemnation to open 
parallel to the river a broad avenue, artistically combining park and 
highway. 



MORGAN GAEDNEE BULKELET 53 

Though the expense will be great, no serious obstruction has 
been thrown in the way, except from a distance. For reasons in- 
scrutable to an onlooker burdened with an old-fashioned notion that 
utilities ought to bear some recognizable proportion to cost, powerful 
influences up the river insisted upon a draw — possibly with a view to 
the development of a harbor on Mount Washington. So well organized 
was the movement, that it long threatened to mutilate the structure. 
However, by patient, persistent, and tactful efforts. Governor Bulkeley 
finally silenced opposition. When that was withdrawn the United 
States Government consented to the execution of the work as designed. 

In 1885 Governor Bulkeley married Miss Fannie Briggs Hough- 
ton. They have three children : Morgan Gardner, Jr. ; Elinor Hough- 
ton, and Houghton Bulkeley. He belongs to many clubs and fra- 
ternities, and has been specially active in patriotic societies. The 
spacious and beautiful building of the Hartford Club was made pos- 
sible through his support. He is president of the Commission on 
Improvements of the State Capitol. 

Although the life of Governor Bulkeley has abounded in activi- 
ties, he has done everything with thoroughness. 



FRANK B. BRANDEGEE 

BRANDEGEE, HON. FRANK BOSWORTH, United States 
senator, lawyer, and one of the most prominent Republicans in 
Connecticut, was bom in New London, Connecticut, July 8th, 
1864. He is a descendant of Jacob Brandegee, a native of Nine 
Points, New York, who settled New Britain in the middle of the 
eighteenth century and founded the Connecticut branch of the family. 
John Brandegee, his grandfather, was a prosperous cotton broker of 
New Orleans, who came to New London and engaged in the whaling 
industry, and in many public enterprises. On the maternal side, 
Senator Brandegee is descended from Daniel Deschamps, a Huguenot 
refugee at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and 
from Captain Daniel Deshon, who commanded an armed vessel dur- 
ing the War of the Revolution. The other two Huguenot ancestors, 
John and Richard Deshon, served with conspicuous credit 
as captains of companies of Connecticut militia in the Revolu- 
tion. Puritan as well as Huguenot blood flows in the Bran- 
degee veins, for their family ancestry is also traceable to the historic 
Elder Brewster. Senator Brandegee's father, Hon. Augustus Brande- 
gee, one of the most distinguished lawyers and politicians Connecticut 
has ever produced, was four times a member of Congress, an able 
speaker, and a popular political leader. His wife, the present senator's 
mother, was Nancy Bosworth Brandegee. 

After the usual public school experience Frank Brandegee pre- 
pared for college at the Bulkeley High School in New London, where 
he graduated in 1881. He then entered Yale University, where he 
won honors both for excellent scholarship and for prowess in athletics. 
After taking his degree in 1885 he went abroad, visiting Great Brit- 
ain and Continental Europe, and later Alaska, Canada, and the 
Hawaiian Islands. Returning home, he was admitted to the New 
London County Bar in 1888 and, following in his father's worthy 
steps, he began the practice of law and became a member of the well 
known law firm of Brandegee, Noyes & Brandegee. Like his father, 



FRANK B. BKANDEGEE 57 

he was singled out for political honors very early in his career, and in 
1888, the first year of his legal practice, he represented New London 
in the General Assembly, and was chairman of the committee on 
cities and boroughs during his term of office. In 1889 he was elected 
corporation counsel of the city of New London, and held this office 
continuously, with the exception of two years when his party was 
not in power, until he resigned it upon his election as representa- 
tive in Congress in 1902. His consistent party loyalty, rare executive 
ability, and marked capacity for leadership gained him rapidly grow- 
ing prominence among the Eepublicans of the State, and he was 
their delegate to the Eepublican National Conventions in 1888, 1892, 
1900, and 1904, and in the last named year he was chairman of the 
delegation. Since 1898 he has been a member of the Eepublican State 
Central Committee. In 1898 he was again elected State representa- 
tive, and was Speaker of the Connecticut House in 1899. In 1903 
he was elected to the 57th Congress at its second session to fill a 
vacancy left by the death of Charles A. Eussell, and was reelected 
representative to the 57th and 58th Congresses by large majorities in 
both instances. He served with great success on the committee of 
naval afl'airs, and has been a most prominent and active Congress- 
man. In 1905 he was elected to fill the senatorial vacancy caused by 
the death of Orville H. Piatt. His term of office as United States 
senator will expire March 4th, 1909. 

As a speaker Senator Brandegee is forceful, just, persuasive, 
and eloquent, and he is as able a writer as he is orator. His 
fine mind, his ability to understand men and conditions, his public 
spirit and personal integrity have won him high places in politics and 
in his profession, and he is truly "the distinguished son of a dis- 
tinguished father.* 



NEHEMIAH D. SPERRY 

SPEEEY, NEHEMIAH D., member of Congress, builder and 
contractor, former postmaster of New Haven, former Secretary 
of State of Connecticut, and one of the foremost politicians and 
best known citizens of Connecticut, was born in Woodbridge, New 
Haven County, Connecticut, July 10th, 1827. He is a descendant of 
Richard Sperry, an early Colonial settler of Woodbridge, who supplied 
shelter and provisions for the regicides of Charles the First after the 
Eestoration in England and achieved fame for his courage in so doing. 
Sperry's Farm, opposite West Rock and near the Judge's cave which 
hid the fugitives, was acquired by this Richard Sperry and has been in 
the Sperry family for two hundred and fifty years. Mr. Sperry's 
intermediate ancestors left him a substantial legacy of good, firm 
Puritan character, honesty, prudence, and industry and vigorous con- 
stitution and sound moral principles. His father was Enoch Sperry, 
a farmer and manufacturer, who held many local offices and was gen- 
erally honored for his integrity and sobriety and for his strict upright- 
ness in all his dealings. He was gifted with a most logical mind of 
especial capability in the mastering of mathematics. He lived a con- 
scientious Christian life and the Sperry home was beautiful in its 
gentle, consistent Christian atmosphere. Mr. Sperry's mother was 
Atlanta (Sperry) Sperry, a woman whose character and influence 
were of strength and beauty comparable to that of her husband. 

Brought up on his father's farm, healthy in body and alert in 
mind, Nehemiah Sperry was a busy, vigorous, and active lad, who 
formed habits of industry at an early age and made the most of 
meager educational advantages. He loved nature and books, espe- 
cially historical works, and when not at work or school he usually 
employed his time in fishing or reading. He evinced unusual mental 
powers and was qualified to teach school and did so with success at such 
an early age that he had contemporaries for pupils. After a few years 
at the district school he went to New Haven and studied for one year 
at Professor Smith's private school, earning his board by working nights 
and betimes in the morning. He taught school several terms and 



1 



NEHEMIAH D. SPERRY 61 

received the highest salary of any district school teacher in the State. 
From the time he was fourteen Mr. Sperry lived in New Haven, which 
is still his home, and when not studying or teaching he worked at learn- 
ing the trade of mason and builder. When he was still a very young 
man he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, forming the 
firm of Sperry & Smith, which is in existence to-day and is the old- 
est and one of the largest and finest firms of its kind in the State. 
They have built many of the leading factories and most handsome 
public buildings and residences in New Haven and vicinity. The 
firm is now Smith, Sperry & Treat, masons, builders, and con- 
tractors. 

When Nehemiah Sperry as a young boy first became a resident of 
New Haven he began at once to be identified with all the best interests 
of that city. He joined the Congregational Church of which he is still 
an active member and as soon as he could vote he became a staunch 
and prominent member of the Whig party. Throughout his life he 
has taken serious and active interest in the religious, political, educa- 
tional, and social affairs of his city and has been prominent and influ- 
ential in all these spheres of life. As a politician Mr. Sperry has 
had a most useful and distinguished career, for his great loyalty, 
patriotism, shrewdness, and organizing ability, as well as his eloquence 
and popularity, have made him a favorite recipient of public honors. 
In 1853 he was a member of the common council, and he was select- 
man in the same year; in 1854 he was an alderman and in 1855 his 
party wished to make him governor, but he was not old enough to meet 
the requirements and he was made Secretary of State instead. He was 
a member of the National American Convention which met at Phila- 
delphia in June, 1855, to formulate the platform of the American 
party. He was a zealous anti-slavery worker and became a strong 
Eepublican. He was chairman of the Republican State Committee for 
many years before and during the Civil War and one of the most 
influential politicians in the campaigns of the war period. He did 
valuable service in helping the Government and the soldiers and en- 
joyed personal intimacy with President Lincoln. He was secretary 
of the National Republican Convention which nominated and re-nomi- 
nated Lincoln, he was chairman of the New Haven Recruiting Com- 
mittee, and when the "Monitor" was built he was a bondsman for the 
builders and later on he was president of the State Republican Con- 
vention, which nominated Grant electors. Upon Lincoln's accession he 



62 NEHEMIAH D. SPEEKY 

was made postmaster at New Haven and held this oflBce from 1861 to 
1885. The New Haven post office is one of the most important and effi- 
cient offices in the country and Mr. Sperry was one of the most capable 
and progressive postmasters. He was re-appointed in 1889 and served 
till 1893 and upon his final retirement from the office he had held so 
successfully under different presidents he was given a banquet in the 
largest theater in New Haven, at which four hundred prominent men 
were present. In 1895 Mr. Sperry became a member of Congress and 
he still serves his party in that capacity. In political faith he is a 
strong Protectionist and his article on the "Advantages of Protection" 
was considered such a valuable and able treatise on that subject that 
four hundred thousand copies of it were demanded. As a public 
speaker and debater Mr. Sperry is eloquent, fair minded, and im- 
pressive, and he has often been chosen to voice public and party senti- 
ment. In municipal affairs as well as in politics Mr. Sperry has been 
an influential leader and no one has done more than he to promote the 
general interests of his home city. He organized the first street rail- 
road in New Haven, which was likewise the first in the State, and was 
a promoter of the New Haven and Derby Railroad. His interest in 
education and religion bore great fruit in 1878, when he brought 
about the re-establishment of reading the Bible in the public schools, 
which had previously been abolished. He has been several times a 
delegate to the National Board of Trade. 

Fraternally and socially Mr. Sperry has many interests and 
honors. He is a thirty-third degree Mason and was Master of Wooster 
Lodge for many years. He is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows 
and of other societies and orders, including the Quinnipiack Club, of 
which he was president for many years. He has been twice married. 
His first wife, Eliza H. Sperry, died in 1847, and in 1875 he married 
Minnie B. Newton of Lockport, New York. 

Mr. Sperry is widely recognized as a man of great influence, 
nobility of character, business ability and public spirit. He is 
above everything else characterized by fidelity to principle and faithful- 
ness to duty and these qualities added to his rare mental powers and 
executive ability have made his success as deserved as it is great and 
manifold. 

Mr. Sperry was unanimously re-nominated for Congressman, 
October 2nd, 1906. 



EDWAED STEVENS HENRY 

HENEY, EDWAKD STEVENS, prominent in the financial and 
political afEairs of Eockville, Connecticut, public man, ex- 
congressman and extensive real estate owner, was born in 
Gill, Massachusetts, February 10th, 1836. The Henry family is of 
Scotch-Irish descent and traces its ancestry to Hugh Henry, a sturdy 
yeoman of northern England who fought under William of Orange in 
the Battle of the Boyne and whose son, Hugh Henry, came from Cole- 
raine, Ireland, to Colerain, Massachusetts, in 1738 and founded the 
American branch of the family. Benjamin Henry, son of Hugh, was 
a soldier in the French and Indian Wars under General Putnam, was 
for seventeen years a member of Legislature and also participated in 
the Kevolution. The present Mr. Henry's father was Edward Fish 
Henry, a teacher and farmer. Mr. Henry's mother was Eliza A. 
Stevens, and through her he is descended from early English 
colonists. 

Edward Stevens Henry was the oldest of six children and began 
to take personal responsibilities at an early age. He was educated in 
the public schools of Eockville, Connecticut, and went into the dry 
goods business at the age of nineteen. At a very early age he became 
actively interested in the organization and management of the leading 
financial institutions of EockviUe and in this work, in public service 
and the care of his large estate and cattle farms he has spent his life. 
He was an organizer and is the present treasurer of the People's Sav- 
ings Bank of Eockville. 

The public positions which Mr. Henry has held have been many 
and important. For fifteen years he was active trial justice at Eock- 
ville, in 1883 he was a member of the General Assembly, from 1887 to 
1888 he was state senator, from 1889 to 1893 he was treasurer of state, 
in 1894 he was mayor of Eockville and in 1894 he was elected a mem- 
ber of Congress and re-elected in 1896. He then served in Con- 
gress until 1901 and his long term of oflSce makes him justly 
deserve the title of "veteran Congressman." In 1888 he was dele- 



6G ED WARD STEVENS HENEY 

gate at large to the Eepublican National Committee at Chicago. 
As treasurer of state his services were especially efficient and commend- 
able, for he took the office during a transition period under new laws 
and his management was most prosperous and prudent. During his 
term of office he abolished the state tax, thereby benefiting the poorer 
classes very greatly. While in the Legislature he did much for the 
advancement of agriculture and he is a director of the American 
Jersey Cattle Club. Some of Mr. Henry's greatest public services 
are embodied in the public building in Eockville known as the 
Henry Block and the Henry Opera House, which adds much to the 
appearance of the town and to the convenience of its people. 

In 1860 Mr. Henry married Lucina Dewey, by whom he has had 
one child, a daughter. Mr. Henry is a member of the Sons of the 
American Eevolution, the fraternal order of Masons, the Connecticut 
Historical Society and he has been a loyal member of the Eepublican 
party ever since he attained the voting age. As a business man, a 
politician, and a citizen, Mr. Henry has been truly useful and suc- 
cessful. 

On September 23nd, 1906, Mr. Henry was unanimously re-nomi- 
nated for Congress. 



EBENEZER J. HILL 

HILL, HON. EBENEZER J., manufacturer, banker and 
financier, politician and Congressman, of Norwalk, Connecti- 
cut, was born in Redding, Eairfield County, Connecticut, 
August 4th, 1845. He is of Scotch-English descent, coming in direct 
line from Hugh and Brice McLellan, two cousins, whose son and 
daughter were his maternal grandparents and who came from Scot- 
land and settled in York, Maine, in 1720. His other ancestors came 
from England to America before 1650 and settled in various parts 
of New England. Among them were William Hill, who came from 
Exeter, England, to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1632, and to 
Windsor, Connecticut, in 1635, and settled in Fairfield, Connec- 
ticut, in 1644; Rev. John Jones, who came from London to Con- 
cord, Massachusetts, 1635; John Burr, who came with Winthrop in 
1630; Francis Bradley, who came to New Haven with Eaton; Wil- 
liam Ilsley, who came from Wiltshire, England, to Ipswich, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1634, and Capt. Thomas Bradbury, who came from 
Essex County, England, to York, Maine, in 1634. All these men and 
many others who were Mr. Hill's ancestors were leaders in Colonial 
affairs, social, civil, and military and served their country with honor. 
Another, Tristram Coffin, was the first chief magistrate of Nantucket, 
and another, Andrew Ward, was a member of the General Assembly 
and of the two important commissions to organize the government 
and the church in the new Colony of Connecticut. Indeed there 
were few if any sessions of the General Court from its first to the 
time of the Revolution of which his ancestors were not members. 
There were also among his progenitors those who fought the Indians 
in New England, the French in Canada and Cape Breton and the 
English during the Revolution. 

Rev. Moses Hill, Mr. Hill's father, was a Methodist clergyman, 
who was several times a member of the General Conference of the 
Methodist-Episcopal Church, a member of the Connecticut General 
Assembly and of the Norwalk Board of School Visitors. He was a 



72 HON. EBENEZEK HILL. 

man of unswerving integrity, keen mental powers of analysis, 
marked independence of thought and action, a strong advocate of 
anti-slavery and of temperance. Mr. Hill's mother was Charlotte 
Ilsley McLellan, who died when he was but eight years of age. 

Most of Mr. Hill's boyhood was spent in Norwalk, where he 
attended the public schools. He was naturally very studious and was 
fully prepared for college at the age of fourteen, when he spent two 
years as clerk in the lumber business before entering Yale, the college 
of his choice. The classical books used in his college preparation were 
helpful and enjoyable reading, but the study of the Bible in both 
English and Latin proved to be to him more useful than any other 
book. He has always continued a wide course of reading and has been 
greatly interested in the study of political economy. He entered 
Yale College with the class of 1865 and remained two years, when 
in 1863, he left college and entered the army in civilian capacity 
and remained in service throughout the War as clerk in the Com- 
missary Department, U. S. A. In 1867 he became secretary and 
treasurer of the Norwalk Iron Works and in 1871 he became con- 
nected with the lumber business, from which he retired twenty-three 
years later. He is now vice-president of the Norwalk Woolen Mills, 
vice-president of the National Bank of Norwalk, and was for several 
years president of the Norwalk Gas Company and president of the 
Norwalk Street Eailway Company. 

As a politician and public servant, Mr. Hill has been as prominent 
and as useful as he has been in business life. He was chairman of the 
Norwalk Board of School Visitors for two terms, state senator from 
1887 to 1889, member of the Eepublican State Central Committee 
one term, delegate to the Eepublican National Convention in 1884 
and he was elected in 1894 as representative in the Fifty-Fourth 
Congress and has served in that capacity continuously ever since. He 
spent eight years in studying sound money as member of the bank- 
ing and currency committee in Congress and is now a member 
of the ways and means committee in Congress. 

Outside of his many public and business duties Mr. Hill finds 
time and heart for religious, social, and patriotic interests. He is a 
Methodist in creed, was a member of the Methodist General Con- 
ference in 1892, and taught a Bible class in Sunday School for nine- 
teen years. He is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and was 



HON. EBENEZER HILL, 73 

Grand Master of the State Order for two terms and a Grand Rep- 
resentative to the United States Grand Lodge for two terms. He 
is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His favorite 
diversions are reading, walking, and traveling in this country and 
abroad. On June 15th, 1868, Congressman Hill married Mary Ellen 
Mossman of Amherst, Massachusetts, by whom he has had four chil- 
dren, Frederick Asbury, born 1869, a graduate of Yale University, 
1893, and of Yale Law School, 1895, Judge Advocate with rank of 
lieutenant-colonel on staff of General James H. Wilson in the Spanish- 
American War; Clara Mossman, a graduate of Vassar College, 1895; 
Helena Charlotte (Mrs. Walter H. Weed), a graduate of Vassar, 
1896, and A.M. of Vassar, and Elsie Mary, a graduate of Vassar, 
1906. 

Congressman E. J. Hill is a veteran in public service, a success- 
ful business man, and a man of marked worth and ability to whose 
words of advice it is a privilege to listen. He advocates two things: 
"First, practice economy and always live within your income ; second, 
try to know some one tiling better than anyone else does while still 
having a general knowledge of all important live questions. Practice 
the art of selecting the essentials for study and investigation." 

On September 22nd, 1906, Mr. Hill was unanimously re-nominated 
for Congressman. 



GEORGE LEAVENS LILLEY 

LILLE Y, GEOEGE LEAVENS, Congressman, merchant, and 
real estate man, of Waterbnry, New Haven County, Connecti- 
cut, was born in Oxford, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 
August 3rd, 1859. He is descended from George Lilley, who settled 
in Eeading, Massachusetts, in 1636. Mr. Lilley's father was John 
Leavens Lilley, a farmer and marketman, whom he describes as "a 
bundle of nervous energy and activity." His mother was Caroline 
Ward Adams Lilley, whose character was a great moral force in her 
son's life. 

A heritage of ambition and plenty of work for the exercise of 
that ambition fell to Mr. Lilley's lot in his early youth, and he was 
exceptionally fitted for that lot. He was constitutionally rugged and 
vigorous and lived on a farm where there was ample chance to put his 
strength to constant and practical use. His brief education was ac- 
quired with great diflBculty and many interruptions. He was very 
fond of history, which was the bulk of his reading. His chief school- 
ing consisted of two years at the Worcester Technical Institute. 

Since "coming to man's estate" Mr. Lilley has been engaged in 
the real estate business and in the provision and produce business in 
Waterbury, and his prosperity has been as rapid and as great as his 
early ability and success promised. His value to his community and 
to the Republican party has been especially shown by his election to 
the State Legislature in November, 1900, and in 1902 by his election 
to Congress as Representative at large from Connecticut, and still 
further by his re-election to the latter office in 1904. In addition to 
his business interests and public services Mr. Lilley has many social 
and fraternal interests. He is a member of the Union League Club of 
New Haven, of the Waterbury Club, of the Masons, the Elks, and the 
Foresters. He is also a member of the State Republican Committee, 
and director of the Torrington National Bank. He is a member 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His favorite amusements are 
horseback riding and automobiling. On June 17th, 1884, Mr. Lilley 



GEORGE LEAVENS LILLET 75 

married Anna E. H. Steele. All of the three children who have been 
bom to Mr. and Mrs. Lilley are now living. 

In summing up the causes of his success in life Mr. Lilley says 
that the first impulse to win that success came in those early hours of 
the early days of his life, when he first experienced mercantile life and 
developed the merchant's instinct. Contact with other men has been 
the chief influence upon his success in later life. As to the results he 
says, "No man has ever accomplished all he hoped. The best he can 
do is to keep everlastingly at it, trying with all his might;" and for 
the further guidance of those coming after him he emphasizes the 
importance of cultivating "unadulterated honesty, frankness, and 
politeness, coupled with a will to do and to dare — a determination to 
permit no obstacles to stand in the way of achieving the goal of an 
honest ambition," and he adds, "It is my belief that every young man 
with the Eoosevelt-Jerome energy and the foregoing traits can carry to 
a successful conclusion anjrthing he undertakes." 

On September 20th, 1906, Mr. Lilley was unanimously re-nomi- 
nated for Congress. 



EDWIN WEETER HIGGINS 

HIGGINS, EDWIN WEETER, lawyer and Congressman, of 
Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, was born in 
Clinton, Middlesex County, Connecticut, July 2nd, 1874, the 
son of Werter C. Higgins and Grace A. Higgins, who was the daughter 
of Henry M. and Ann Crane Taintor. Silas Higgins, the paternal 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was for years prominent in 
the business and public life of eastern Connecticut. Mr. Higgins' 
father is a manufacturer of steam heaters and a man whose most prom- 
inent characteristic is fidelity to principle. Mr. Higgins' earliest ances- 
tors in America were Jonathan Sexton, who came from England to 
Plymouth in 1620, and later settled in Windsor, Connecticut; Medad 
Taintor, who was born in 1757 and came from England to Branford, 
Connecticut, and Heman Higgins of Midddletown, Connecticut. The 
early ancestors of Mr. Higgins were identified with the Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay Colonies and three of his great-grandfathers took 
part in the American Revolution. 

Most of Mr. Higgins' youth was spent in Norwich, Connecticut, 
where from choice during vacation periods he often busied himself 
with both manual and clerical work in the shops and offices of Nor- 
wich. He was blessed with good health and found the keenest enjoy- 
ment in outdoor sports. After a course at the Norwich Free Academy 
he entered the law department of Yale University and graduated in 
1897 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. While at Yale he served 
one term as secretary of the Kent Club, the leading debating 
society of the law department, and became a member of the Yale 
chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa. 

Since leaving college Mr. Higgins has devoted himself to the 
practice of law, and his profession with the performance of various 
public services has occupied Mr. Higgins' time since graduation. In 

1899 he was elected a member of the General Assembly as representa- 
tive from Norwich and served on the judiciary committee. From 

1900 until he resigned in 1905 he served as health officer for New 




^-'V^A.ijiZ^ 60 . 74y<^Av,^^^yul^ 



EDWIN WERTER HIGGINS 79 

London County, being appointed by the Judges of the Superior Court 
of the State; from 1901 to 1903 he was corporation counsel for the city 
of Norwich; in 1904 he was a delegate to the Kepublican National Con- 
vention at Chicago, representing Connecticut on the committee on 
resolutions; in 1905 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of Nor- 
wich and has been for six years and is now a member of the Eepub- 
lican State Central Committee. On October 2nd, 1905, he was given 
still higher political honor by his election as Representative from the 
Third District in the Congress of the United States. Since 1903 
he has been director and secretary of the Groton and Stonington 
Street Eailway Company and is connected with other prominent busi- 
ness interests in his section of the State. On October 6th, 1906, Mr. 
Higgins was unanimously re-nominated for Congress. 

On September 21st, 1904, Mr. Higgins married Alice M. Neff of 
Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mr. Higgins served three years and a 
half in Co. 9, C. N. G., Third Eegiment, is a member of the Chelsea 
Boat Club, the Arcanum Club of Norwich, the Sons of the American 
Eevolution of Connecticut and the Citizens Corp of the G. A. E. He 
is particularly fond of outdoor life and his favorite sports are hunting 
and fishing. Though still a young man, Mr. Higgins has won himself 
a place of distinction as a lawyer and as a public man, as his pro- 
fessional and political offices show. 



DAVID TORRANCE 

TOREANCE, DAVID, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 
of Errors of Connecticut, the son of Walter and Annie Tor- 
rance, was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, March 3rd, 1840. 
After the death of his father, his mother with her young children 
came to this country in 1849 and settled at Norwich, Connecticut. At 
the age of nine David went to work in a cotton mill there, and sub- 
sequently learned and for some years worked at the trade of paper 
making. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, his younger brother, James 
Torrance, went out with the Third Connecticut Volunteers, served his 
term and re-enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment, meeting his death 
with that devoted band of Union soldiers at Port Hudson in 1863. 
David felt constrained to remain at his work till that stirring summer 
of 1862, when illusions as to the uprising were dissipated and the call 
of duty sounded in sternest tones for such as he. On the 17th of July, 
1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the Eighteenth Con- 
necticut Volunteers, and was speedily made a sergeant in the company. 

On July 13th, 1863, the regiment saw its first fighting. General 
Milroy with barely 7,000 men undertook to hold back General Early 
with 30,000 men and eighty-seven field guns, at Winchester, Virginia. 
On the 15th, the Eighteenth, commanded by Colonel William G. Ely, 
was in the van in a charge made upon one of the enemy's batteries. 
After three successive but unavailing charges in which the regiment 
lost heavily, it was forced to surrender, and Torrance with many of 
his comrades became a prisoner of war. General Walker of Stone- 
wall Jackson's brigade feelingly voiced the admiration of the foe for 
the bravery displayed by the regiment and, in attestation, returned 
Colonel Ely's sword to him upon the field. 

General Milroy said to these brave men, after they had returned 
from captivity: "To your valor I owe my safety. You come from a 
state whose soldiers never disgrace themselves nor their flag. I am 
proud of you." 



♦ 





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<L.J^^^^^^ 



DAVID TOKEANCE 83 

The employment of negroes as soldiers became one of the gravest 
questions of the hour. Bitterly opposed as the plan was in some 
quarters and desperate as the undertaking seemed for the colored men, 
President Lincoln and his advisers saw that the success of the experi- 
ment must depend primarily upon the character of the men chosen to 
lead such troops. When Connecticut offered as its share at that time 
the Twenty-ninth Regiment, colored, early in 1864, William B. 
Wooster, an able Derby lawyer, recently lieutenant colonel of the Twen- 
tieth Eegiment, was appointed to its command and David Torrance 
was promoted from the Eighteenth Eegiment, on January 30th of that 
year, to be captain of Company A of the Twenty-ninth. Incidentally, 
there was formed a friendship between colonel and captain which 
clearly was most precious to both and which was to continue through 
war and peace till the colonel received his final "muster out." 

Thus with his memories of the bitterest that war can offer, with 
the early summer scenes at Libby Prison and Belle Isle fresh in his 
young mind, he cast his lot with soldiers fighting to break the shackles 
from men, women, and children of their own race. Unflinching in the 
face of the horrors meted out to them by an infuriated enemy, the 
regiment reached the goal of its ambition and became the envied of its 
fellows when on that morning of April 3rd, 1865, after weeks of peril 
in Fort Harrison, it was the first of the Federal infantry in pursuit of 
Lee and the first of the Federal infantry to reach the gates of Rich- 
mond. 

The captain had changed the bars on his straps for the gold leaf 
of major on July 21st, 1864, and the gold leaf for the silver leaf of 
lieutenant colonel on November 24th, of that year. After the fall of 
Richmond, he remained with his regiment in the defenses there for a 
time, later did guard duty in Maryland and then, in the summer, sailed 
with the command for Texas. While in camp at Brownsville, in Texas, 
orders came for transportation to Connecticut, October 14th, to be 
mustered out. Reaching New Orleans the regiment was kept there 
from October 27th to November 11th and finally reached Hartford, 
where it was discharged, November 11th. The date of the muster 
out was October 24th, 

In his report. Lieutenant Colonel Torrance said, on the important 
question of colored troops : "The poor rights of a soldier were denied 
them. Their actions were narrowly watched and the slightest faults 



84 DAVID TOEEANOE 

severely commented upon. In spite of all this, the negro soldier 
fought willingly and bravely; and with his rifle alone he has vindi- 
cated his manhood, and stands confessed to-day as second in bravery to 
none." And this lieutenant-colonel has lived to see his judgment con- 
firmed on the plains, at Santiago and in the Philippines. 

It is well to quote in this connection from Governor Bucking- 
ham's speech of welcome to the regiment on its return to Connecticut 
soil : *^Show by your acquirements and your devotion to duty in civil 
life that you are as true to virtue and the interests of government and 
country as you have been while in the army, and soon the voice of a 
majority of liberty-loving free men will be heard demanding for you 
every right and privilege to which your intelligence and moral charac- 
ter shall entitle you." 

The paths of peace for both the colonel and his second in com- 
mand led to Derby, where Colonel Wooster resumed his large and long 
neglected law practice, and Lieutenant Colonel Torrance, in the same 
office, continued the study of law which he had begun at the camp fire 
and for which he had shown a special aptitude. The soldierly student 
had married Miss Annie France on February 11th, 1864, the year be- 
fore his muster out, and now that his duty to his country had been dis- 
charged, it was his purpose to establish a home worthy of his young 
wife. Making rapid progress in his studies, he was admitted to prac- 
tice at the bar in 1868, and the time was not long before colonel and 
lieutenant colonel, whose lives had been linked together by the war, 
were united in civil life under the firm name of Wooster & Torrance, 
a relation that continued till the appointment of the junior member 
as judge in 1885, 

Judge Torrance had three children, two sons, Walter S. and James 
F., living in Derby, and one daughter, Margaret, the wife of Walter 
W. Holmes of Waterbury. After a short period of years following 
his admission to the bar, there was further call to public duty and 
the war veteran was sent to the Legislature to represent Derby, in the 
year 1871, and again for the next session. In 1878, he was elected 
Secretary of the State, on the Eepublican ticket, which was headed 
by the late Charles B. Andrews of Litchfield, subsequently chief 
justice. The public record for the succeeding years reads : Appointed 
judge of the New Haven Court of Common Pleas in 1880 to serve for 
four years from 1881; at the expiration of that term, appointed by 



DAVID TORKANOE 85 

Governor Henry B. Harrison to be judge of the Superior Court; in 
1890, appointed by Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley to be judge of the 
Supreme Court of Errors; re-appointed, and from October 1st, 1901, 
until his recent death, chief justice — term 1901 to 1909. 

In still other ways his services were sought. In 1899, Yale 
University, which has awarded him the honorary degree of Master of 
Arts, chose him a member of the faculty, to take the chair on evidence. 
His voice was heard in the councils of the Grand Army of the Eepublic, 
his name was on the list of members of the Army and Navy Club of 
Connecticut and he was a Free Mason. His religious affiliations were 
with the Congregational Church. In his home city he allied himself 
with a group of men who find recreation in the study of subjects of 
political science and history. His residence was at No. 105 Atwater 
avenue, Derby. 

Judge Torrance died at his home in Derby, September 6th, 1906. 



FREDERIC BYRON HALL 

HALL, FEEDEEIC BYEON, lawyer and judge of the Supreme 
Court of Errors of Connecticut, was born in Saratoga 
Springs, Saratoga County, New York, February 30th, 1843. 
His father, Jonathan Hall, 4th, son of Jonathan, 3rd, and Phebe (Brit- 
ton) Hall, was a machinist and iron foundryman and married Livonia 
Hayward, a descendant from Thomas Hayward, who came from Ayles- 
ford, Kent, England, to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. Jona- 
than Hall's first American ancestor, Thomas Hall, came to America 
in 1718 with his wife Mary Dickey, in company with a body of English 
colonists, who left Londonderry in the North of Ireland in that year 
and settled on lands in New Hampshire granted to the colony and they 
named the settlement Londonderry, the territory being subsequently 
divided into four townships, in one of which is located the famous 
manufacturing city of Manchester, New Hampshire. 

Frederic Byron Hall was brought up in the village of Saratoga 
Springs, where he began to earn his own living by selling newspapers. 
He removed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1858 and found employ- 
ment as a molder in the foundry of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing 
Machine Company, and he continued to work there during his vaca- 
tions from school and college and while studying law. His mother, a 
superior woman, intellectually, morally and spiritually, directed his 
early life in the way of her own beautiful example and encouraged him 
to work and study. The financial needs of the family forced the 
necessity of labor foremost and his school attendance during his boy- 
hood days was secondary to bread winning. As he became able to 
earn better wages, he supplemented home study, which he had always 
kept up under the inspiration of his mother, who was desirous that he 
should be a lawyer, with attendance at the Connecticut Literary In- 
stitute, Suffield, and he was graduated at that school in 1862 and the 
next year he matriculated at Brown University, Providence, Rhode 
Island, and was graduated A.B., 1867. He studied law in the office 
of Henry S. Sanford of Bridgeport, and was admitted to the Fairfield 




TJ 




FREDERIC BYRON HALL 89 

County Bar in 1870. He was a partner in the practice of law with 
Goodwin Stoddard, 1870-77. 

He was married January 1st, 1872, to Jennie A., daughter of 
George and Jennett Lewis of Stratford, Connecticut, and the three 
children bom of this marriage are Alice Burr Hall, now wife of 
William B. Boardman, member of the bar of Fairfield County, Con- 
necticut, Dwight Hubbell Hall and Lewis Frederic Hall, both gradu- 
ates of Brown University. 

His judicial labors began in 1877, when he was appointed judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield County for the term of 
four years and he has been twice re-appointed to the same position, 
serving 1877-89. In 1889 he was appointed judge of the Superior 
Court and re-appointed in 1897. In September, 1897, Governor Cook 
appointed him judge of the Supreme Court of Errors to fill the 
vacancy caused by the death of Judge Fenn and, at the next session of 
the Legislature in 1899, he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court 
of Errors for the term of eight years. Judge Hall's military service 
in the Civil War was cut short by physical disability resulting from 
typhoid fever contracted during the service. He enlisted in Company 
D, Seventeenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, when nine- 
teen years old, but he was honorably discharged before the close of the 
next year and sent home to save his life. 

He is a member of the University Club of New York, and 
Brown University by a special vote taken in 1890 gave him the honor- 
ary degree of A.M. and Yale University at the Commencement exer- 
cises of 1890 conferred on him a similar degree. He is a voting mem- 
ber of the Eepublican party, but takes no active part in political cam- 
paigns, always regarding the high office which he holds as superior to 
and outside the field of political controversy. His home is on Mill 
Hill Avenue, Bridgeport. 

His life is a splendid example to young men of the possibilities 
open to any young man in America who is willing to labor and to 
study. He, with the help of the product of his own work and the 
advice and encouragement of an ambitious mother, became a man of 
mark — so can the young reader of this biography. 



SIMEON EBEN BALDWIN 

BALDWIN, SIMEON EBEN, Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of Errors of Connecticut, was born in New Haven, Con- 
necticut, on February 5th, 1840, as the son of Roger Sherman 
Baldwin and Emily (Perkins) Baldwin. He is a descendant of sev- 
eral of the leading families of New England. His father was a 
representative in the General Assembly, a state senator, governor of 
Connecticut, a United States senator and a presidential elector-at- 
large, in 1860, when he voted for Abraham Lincoln. As one of the 
foremost lawyers of the State he was associated in 1839 with John 
Quincy Adams in an important case before the United States Supreme 
Court. His grandfather was a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, 
and his great-grandfather was Roger Sherman, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. His first American ancestor was 
John Baldwin, who came from England in the early part of the 
seventeenth century and settled first in Guilford and later in Nor- 
wich. A son of John Baldwin was well known as a captain in the 
colonial militia. On his mother's side Judge Baldwin counts among 
his ancestors John Haynes, who has the unique distinction of being 
governor first of Massachusetts and then of Connecticut, Governor 
William Pitkin of Connecticut, and Governor William Bradford of 
the Plymouth Colony. 

Judge Baldwin was brought up in the city of his birth, New 
Haven. His early education was received at the Hopkins Grammar 
School where he was prepared for college. He entered Yale and was 
graduated in the class of 1861, receiving the degree of A.B. Having 
decided to become a lawyer he studied first at the Yale and then at the 
Harvard Law School. After two years and without waiting to take 
a degree, he began the practice of his profession in his father's law 
office in New Haven. Here his natural ability, careful preliminary 
training in the law and the able assistance of his father combined to 
assure him success. He quickly acquired a reputation as an able and 
conscientious lawyer, and in a few years gained a large and profitable 
clientage. But he was destined to make his name as a teacher and 



SIMEON EBEN" BALDWIN 93 

interpreter of the law rather than in private practice. In 1869 he was 
offered and he accepted an instructorship at the Yale Law School. His 
ability as an educator was soon recognized by the University authori- 
ties and in 1872 he was appointed a professor of constitutional and 
mercantile law. The same year the State Legislature named him as a 
member of a commission to revise the educational laws of Connecti- 
cut. He took an important part in the work of this commission, and 
his services were recognized by the members of the General Assembly. 
The following year he was appointed on a similar commission to revise 
the general statutes of the State. His legal knowledge and experience 
enabled him to lend valuable assistance in the performance of this 
delicate and difficult task. His next important service to the public 
was in 1877 when as a member of the committee on jurisprudence 
of the State Bar Association of Connecticut he drew up and presented 
the report in favor of adopting the system of code pleadings in civil 
actions. He is to-day remembered as one of the originators of the 
movement in favor of introducing this progressive reform in the legal 
system of the State. In 1885 he served as one of the leading members 
on a commission which recommended a better method of taxation, and 
it was he who drew up the report which resulted in a great increase in 
the revenues of the State. During these years of active public service 
he continued his duties as professor at the Yale Law School. He 
also took the leading part in the founding and organizing of the 
American Bar Association and in 1890 he was elected its president. 
The following year Harvard University conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of LL.D. From 1899 to 1901 he was president of 
the International Law Association of London. 

Professor Baldwin was by this time recognized as one of the lead- 
ing jurists in the State and his reputation extended throughout the 
country and to England. In 1893 he was elected an associate judge of 
the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut, an office which he still 
holds. As a professor and later as a judge he has made several valua- 
ble contributions to legal literature. He is the author of "Baldwin's 
Digest of the Connecticut Law Reports" (2 vols.), 1871, 1882; of 
"Modern Political Institutions," 1898; of "American Eailroad Law," 
and of "The American Judiciary." He is co-author of "Two Centuries 
Growth of American Law," 1901, and has written numerous articles 
for magazines and literary societies, also many pamphlets and ad- 
dresses. 



94 SIMEON EBEN" BALDWIN 

Although the greater portion of Judge Baldwin's time has been 
devoted to the study, practice, teaching and interpretation of the 
law, he has found ample opportunity to give serious attention to 
politics, history and social science as well as to church and municipal 
affairs. His political affiliations have been with the Democratic 
party. He took a prominent part in the presidential campaign of 
1884, which resulted in sending Grover Cleveland to Washington as the 
first Democratic president since the Civil War. In 1889 he was made 
president of the State Democratic Club. His present judicial position 
compels him to refrain from taking an active part in political contests, 
but he retains a keen interest in public affairs. He is an enthusiastic 
student of history, especially of the history of law and of his own 
State. For twelve years until 1896, he was president of the New 
Haven Colony Historical Society and during 1899 he was president 
of the Connecticut Archseological Society. In 1905 he was 
elected president of the American Historical Association. He is a 
member of the American Antiquarian Society and of the National In- 
stitute of Arts and Letters, a fellow of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science and a corresponding member of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society and of the Colonial Society of Mas- 
sachusetts. On legal history he is one of the recognized authorities of 
the country. He has given much time to the study of political and 
social science, and, what is of far greater importance to his fellow 
men, he has put his knowledge thus gained to practical use, by writ- 
ing text-books and by suggesting legislation along progressive lines. 
In recognition of his services as a student of social questions he was, 
in 1897, elected president of the American Social Science Association, 
a position which he held for two years. In 1900 he was sent as a 
delegate from the United States to the International Prison Congress 
held at Brussels. In religious affairs also Judge Baldwin is promi- 
nent. He is a member of the Congregational Church and has served 
as a moderator of the General Conference. As president of the local 
Young Men's Christian Association he has given encouragement to 
that great organization of practical Christian effort. In the municipal 
affairs of the city in which he has always lived Judge Baldwin has 
rendered his full share of service as a public spirited citizen. He 
was active in the promotion of the New Haven Park System and es- 
pecially in the establishment of East Rock Park. 



SIMEON EBEN BALDWIN 95 

In 1865 Judge Baldwin was married to Susan Winchester, the 
daughter of Edmund Winchester of Boston. They have had three 
children, two of whom are now living, Eoger Sherman Baldwin and 
Helen Baldwin Gilman, wife of Dr. Warren R. Gilman of Worcester, 
Mass. 

The story of Judge Baldwin's successful career contains several 
lessons helpful to young men of the present generation. In the first 
place, as the son of a prominent family, he withstood the common 
temptation to rest on the laurels of his father and grandfather, and 
he has gone through life determined to win his own name. He has 
not emulated his father's success in the political world, but he has 
surpassed him as a jurist; and by his own effort he now occupies the 
same position in the State judiciary as was held by his grandfather 
many years before him. As a university professor he did not permit 
his class-room duties to limit his activity, but the very year of his 
appointment he began to place his legal knowledge at the services of 
the State. On the other hand, he did not permit frequent public 
honors to cause him to neglect his obligations to Yale University, but 
continued to instruct classes at the Law School. Finally, as a jurist, 
he took an intelligent and active interest in other spheres of activity, 
and his achievements in these lines have contributed much to his suc- 
cess. Judge Baldwin is known as an able jurist, a public spirited 
citizen, and a broad-minded man. 



WILLIAM HAMERSLEY 

HAMEESLEY, WILLIAM, was born at Hartford, Connecticut, 
September 9th, 1838. He was the son of William James 
Hamersley and Laura Sophia Cooke. His mother was a 
daughter of Oliver Dudley Cooke, of Puritan descent, who was for a 
few years after his graduation from Yale, a Congregational clergyman, 
and, afterwards, in 1800, founded the publishing house of 0. D. 
Cooke. He is fourth in descent from William Hamersley, an officer 
of the British ship of war, "Valeur," — which was stationed at New 
York in 1716, — who resigned his commission and married a wife of 
Dutch descent, settling in New York. The father of William Ham- 
ersley was, for many years, a distinguished citizen of Hartford, and at 
one time postmaster of the city. He was for a term of years editor of 
the American Mercury, which paper was later sold to, and incor- 
porated with, the Independent Press of Hartford. 

After passing through the grammar and high schools of his 
native city, Mr. Hamersley entered Trinity College in 1854, but 
was never graduated He entered the law office of Welch & Shipman 
and was admitted to the Bar in 1859, and at once began the practice 
of law independently in Hartford. 

Mr. Hamersley made his entrance into official life as a member of 
the Court of Common Council in 1863. Three years later he was 
chosen vice-president of that body, and for the year 1867-1868, served 
as its president. From 1866 to 1868 he held the position of City 
Attorney for Hartford, and then resigned to accept an appointment 
as State's Attorney for Hartford County. This position he filled for 
twenty years with great acceptability. Mr. Hamersley was appointed 
on the commission which, in 1878, framed the Practice Act, and the 
Orders and Eules of Court and Forms, under that act, which were 
adopted by the Judges. In 1886 he represented Hartford in the State 
House of Representatives, and served on the committees on judiciary 
and federal relations. In 1893 Governor Morris appointed Mr. 
Hamersley an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors, and 



WILLIAM HAMEESLET 99 

this appointment was met with approbation throughout the State. In 
1901 he was reappointed to this position. He was a lecturer on con- 
stitutional law at Trinity College from 1875 to 1900, and has been a 
member of the Board of Trustees of Trinity since 1884. In 1893, 
Trinity College, proud of her son, conferred on him the honorary 
degree of LL.D. 

Mr. Hamersley was one of the founders of the Connecticut State 
Bar Association, and with Eichard D. Hubbard and Simeon E. Bald- 
win, constituted the committee of the association, through whose 
ejfforts the American Bar Association was formed. Through this 
agency much of the most important legislation during almost a quarter 
of a century has been achieved. He was instrumental in improving 
the jury system in Connecticut. Mr. Hamersley's whole life has been 
given to the practice of his chosen profession, and to work relating to 
reform in the state law proceedings. 



SAMUEL OSCAR PRENTICE 

PRENTICE, SAMUEL OSCAR, Justice of the Supreme Court 
of Errors of Connecticut, was born in North Stonington, New- 
London County, Connecticut, August 8th, 1850. He is the 
son of Chester Smith Prentice and Lucy Crary Prentice. His father 
was a farmer who served his townsmen as representative in the State 
Legislature in 1857 and 1863, and later as selectman and first select- 
man during the Civil War period. 

The first American to bear the Judge's family name was Captain 
Thomas Prentice of Newton, Massachusetts, known to the early 
English settlers as "The Trooper." Among his other distinguished 
ancestors, all of whom came from England or Scotland, are found 
Elder William Brewster, Colonel George Denison, Thomas Stanton, 
Captain James Avery, Captain John Gallup, Richard Treat, Rev. 
James Noyes, and William Cheesboro, all names conspicuously associ- 
ated, with the early history of New England. 

Judge Prentice spent his youth in the country until the time of 
his college preparation, which was carried on at the Norwich Free 
Academy from 1866 to 1869. He then entered Yale College, from 
which he was graduated in 1873 with the degree of A.B. 

During his college course Judge Prentice won many honors both 
in the gift of the faculty and of his fellow students. Among these 
honors were three composition prizes, a Junior rhetorical, the "Lit" 
prize medal and oration stand at junior exhibition and at Commence- 
ment. He was also chairman of the editorial board of the "Lit." 
He was a member of the following college societies : Kappa Sigma 
Epsilon, Delta Beta Xi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Skull and Bones. 

Having chosen the law as his future profession. Judge Prentice 
attended the Yale Law School after completing his academic course 
and received his LL.B. degree in 1875. He took the Townsend 
prize for the best oration at this graduation. During his course at the 
law school he was also special teacher in the Hopkins Grammar School 
in New Haven. 




^^^VVVW-ijiL O . V^NAvV^ 



SAMUEL OSCAR PRENTICE 103 

In the autumn following his graduation from the law school, 
Judge Prentice, having been immediately admitted to the bar, began 
practice as a clerk in the law olKce of Chamberlain, Hall & White of 
Hartford, Connecticut. The following year, in 1876, he was admitted 
into the law firm of Johnson & Prentice as junior member. This 
partnership continued until the summer of 1889, when he became a 
judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, being appointed to this posi- 
tion by Governor Morgan C Bulkeley, to whom he had been executive 
secretary. He was confirmed by the General Assembly. At the ex- 
piration of his term of eight years, in 1897, he was reappointed for a 
second term. In 1901 Judge Prentice was appointed and confirmed 
justice of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut. He now 
occupies this high position, and ranks as one of the foremost jurists 
in the State. 

Judge Prentice has rendered many important public services to 
his town and State. From October, 1881, to October, 1886, he was 
chairman of the Hartford city and town Republican committees, and 
he was a delegate to the Republican State Presidential Convention in 
1884, and to the State Convention in 1886. For several years he was 
town and city attorney of Hartford. For twelve years he was clerk of 
the Hartford County Bar. He has been a member of the State Bar 
Examining Committee since its organization in 1890, and its chairman 
since June, 1898. In 1896 he was made instructor in pleading at the 
Yale Law School. In 1901, he was appointed professor of pleading in 
the same school, and he still retains his classes at Yale. 

The Judge was an officer of Company K, First Regiment, Con- 
necticut National Guard, from 1879 to 1889. He was president of the 
Hartford Library Association 1885-6, and has been president of the 
Hartford Public Library Association since 1895. In 1899 he was 
made president of the Yale Alumni Association of Hartford County. 
He was president of the Hartford Golf Club for three years, and vice- 
president of the Waumbeck Golf Club of N'ew Hampshire for three 
years. He is a member of the Congregational Church. His favorite 
relaxation from his legal and public duties is found in walking and 
playing golf. 

On the 24th of April, 1901, Judge Prentice married Anne Combe 
Post of Jersey City, N. J. They have no children. Their home is at 
number 70 Gillett Street, Hartford. 



ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY 

HADLEY, ARTHUR TWINING, LL.D., educator, political 
econoniist, and president of Yale University since 1899, is 
a fine type of the American scholar, who is versed in prac- 
tical affairs, and is a worthy representative of an old and distinguished 
family. His careful cultivation of the fine talents which he inherited, 
together with his earnestness of purpose, high character, clear percep- 
tions, and prompt and efficient action, brought him into prominence in 
comparatively early life. Among other honors, he enjoys the distinc- 
tion of being the first layman to be elected president of Yale, which for 
two hundred years had had a minister at its head. And what is more 
remarkable, this honorable position was reached when he was only 
forty-three years of age. 

Mr. Hadley was born at New Haven, Connecticut, April 23, 1856. 
He was the son of James and Anne (Twining) Hadley. His father 
was a man of warm heart and broad sympathies, a noted educator 
and philologist, the author of important text-books, and for more than 
twenty years professor of Greek at Yale. Two of the elder Hadley's 
brothers were distinguished men, one a professor in a medical college, 
and the other a professor of Hebrew in the Union Theological Semi- 
nary at New York, and later in the Divinity School of Yale. His 
wife, too, belonged to a noted family. She was a woman of fine 
qualities of mind and heart. That her intellect was highly cultivated 
is attested to by the fact that in mathematics she took what was then 
the full course of study at Yale. 

The earliest members of the Hadley family to settle in this 
country came from England about 1640, and located in the north- 
eastern part of Massachusetts. Among the earlier members to become 
especially distinguished were the great-grandfather and grandfather 
of President Hadley, the former of whom, Captain George Hadley, 
was a noted Indian fighter in New Hampshire, and the latter, James 
Hadley, a professor of chemistry in a medical college then located in 
Fairfield, New York. 




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ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY 107 

The childhood and youth of Mr. Hadley were passed in the city 
in which he was born. His health was only moderately good. His 
interests were divided between books and play. He had no duties 
involving manual labor, and had no special difficulties in acquiring 
an education. After a preparatory course of study in the Hopkins 
Grammar School, in New Haven, he entered Yale, from which insti- 
tution he was graduated in 1876. Though he was far from being a 
recluse, he was a scrupulous student throughout his college course. 
He took several important prizes along widely different lines and was 
graduated at the head of his class. His post-graduate course of study 
was begun at Yale, where he spent one year, and was continued at the 
University of Berlin where he remained for two years. His special 
studies in this course were history and political science. 

The active work of life was begun in 1879 as a tutor at Yale, 
which position he held until 1883, in which year he was appointed 
lecturer. He served in this capacity for three years. From 1886 to 
1899 he was professor of political science. At a meeting of the 
corporation on May 25th, 1899, he was elected, and on the 18th of the 
following October he was inaugurated president of the university. 
For a time in the eighties, he was editor of the Railroad Gazette, and 
from 1885 to 1887 he was the State Labor Commissioner for Con- 
necticut, in which capacity he rendered efficient service, which, with 
the two volumes of his official reports, gave him a high standing as 
an authority on matters affecting the rights and interests of em- 
ployers and employees. 

At a somewhat earlier date he had commenced a careful study 
of the history of railroads and of the problems connected with their 
administration. The results of this exhaustive study were embodied 
in a book on "Eailroad Transportation, Its History and Its Laws," 
which was not only accepted as the standard work of its class in the 
United States, but which has also been translated into several foreign 
languages. His opinion upon important phases of the railroad ques- 
tion was considered so valuable that he was examined as an expert by 
the United States Senate Committee, which, under the leadership 
of Senator Cullom, drafted the Inter-State Commerce Law. 

In addition to his regular duties at Yale, Mr. Hadley served for 
two years, 1891-93, in place of Professor Sumner, who was abroad 
at the time, as professor of political and social science in the academic 



108 ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY 

department. For many years he has done much to train students in 
public speaking and to encourage them to engage in debates. He has 
lectured at Harvard and other educational institutions, has made 
addresses at important public meetings, and has written largely on 
railroads, finance, and political economy for cyclopedias and leading 
magazines and newspapers. In addition to the work already named 
he is the author of "Economics" (1896), which has been adopted 
as a text-book in several of our higher educational institutions; 
"The Education of the American Citizen," (1901) ; and "Freedom 
and Eesponsibility," (1903). He is not only a forceful writer and 
lecturer, but also an earnest and entertaining after-dinner speaker. 

Mr. Hadley was married, June 30, 1891, to Helen Harrison 
Morris, daughter of former Governor Luzon B. Morris, of Connecti- 
cut, and a graduate of Vassar College. They have had three children, 
of whom all were living in 1904. Mr. Hadley has received the degree 
of LL.D. from Yale, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other institutions 
in the United States, and has also received foreign honors. He is a 
member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and of the 
Century and University Clubs of New York, In politics he is a lib- 
eral Eepublican, though he believes in free trade, and he sometimes 
acts independently of his party. His religious afi&liations are with 
the Congregational Church. 

He has never given special attention to systems of physical 
culture, though he plays lawn tennis, golf, and other outdoor games, 
and he greatly enjoys mountain climbing. In the choice of a pro- 
fession he was left free to follow his own inclination. The first 
strong impulse to strive for the prizes of life he traces to a " com- 
bination of ambition with the need of making a living." The 
influence of his mother was very strong upon both his intellectual and 
spiritual life. Among certain powerful aids and means in his efforts 
to succeed, he mentions those of home and private study as the most 
important, and contact with men in active life as coming next in 
effectiveness. Of the books which have proved the most helpful, he 
names the Bible, Shakespeare, and Dante, and afterwards Goethe. 

In writing and in teaching, President Hadley lays greater stress 
upon the importance of a " higher standard of industrial and political 
ethics " than has been somewhat generally accepted in the past. The 
value which he places upon patient endurance, as a means to the 



ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY 109 

attaimnent of the highest success, is indicated by the following quota- 
tion from an address to the students at Yale : " The achievement 
which comes through trial and failure is nobler in quality than that 
which seems to come of itself. Without patience we may have indi- 
vidual deeds of great splendor, but they stand as something separate 
from the doer. With patience, the deeds become so inwrought into 
the character of the man that his success or failure in externals is 
a small thing, as compared with that success which he has achieved 
in himself. He is a leader to be loved and trusted, as well as to be 
admired and followed." In language equally clear he states, in the 
same address, the importance of helpfulness and self-sacrifice on the 
part of those who desire to be leaders of others and to obtain the 
highest good for themselves : " Remember that the great achieve- 
ments of history are those which have been worked out with others 
and for others, and that this cooperation can only be obtained at the 
price of patient waiting. Remember that real leadership belongs 
to the man who can thus patiently feel the needs and limitations of 
other men, and who has that power of self-renunciation which alone 
will enable him to compass this result. And finally, remember that, 
however much you may be able to dazzle the multitude or lead the 
multitude, the respect of your own conscience, under God, is the one 
enduring possession." 



HENRY PARKS WRIGHT 

YALE spirit," "Yale democracy/' "the Yale chance for every 
man" are phrases often heard. They represent the desire 
to express a certain atmosphere, which is inexpressible in 
words. Its explanation is no easier than would be the explanation 
of the composite of the attributes of a given number of noble men. 
But those of the past thirty years who have enjoyed the privilege of 
living under the influence of that atmosphere are quick to attest 
the important contribution toward the total result, made in his 
unpretentious way, by the present dean of the college faculty, Pro- 
fessor Henry Parks Wright. He has been these many years the 
exemplar of that patience, gentleness, and fatherly kindness — firm 
but always just — which have been to students as the very love of 
Alma Mater herself for them, which have held them true to their 
course and which have welded bands of affection never to be broken. 
Dean Wright is of Puritan descent. The first of his name in 
America was Samuel Wright, who came from London and settled 
in Springfield, Massachusetts, where we find his name as deacon 
of the church in 1639 — an honor of high degree in those days, from 
ecclesiastic or civic standpoint. But a family that is devout can 
also be militant, as evidenced in this family as early as King Philip's 
Indian War, when Lieutenant Samuel Wright went forth to battle 
and gave up his life at Deerfield, on September 2nd, 1675. John 
Crawford, another ancestor, was a captain in command of a company 
in the Continental army at Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, in 
1777. 

The professor was born November 30th, 1839. His father was 
Parks Wright, living in Winchester, Cheshire County, New Hamp- 
shire, following the business of carpenter and builder. He was a 
man of energy and thrift, fond of work and systematic and inventive, 
with a mind seeking to discover and develop new paths of useful- 
ness. Relief Willard Wooley was the professor's mother. Both 
parents died while he was quite young, his father when he was only 



HENRY PAEKS WRIGHT 111 

six weeks old, and his mother three years later. Then he went 
to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, to be brought up by his grandmother, 
Mrs. Hannah (Crawford) Woolley, whose influence upon his char- 
acter and habits was deep and lasting. After the death of her hus- 
band, in 1844, she removed to Oakham, Massachusetts, her native 
town. 

The boy was fond of his books, and he read through with 
care nearly all the volumes which the small town library contained. 
In the schools of Oakham he received an excellent training in the 
English branches, including higher arithmetic and algebra, and was 
taught some geometry and Latin. From these schools many had 
gone forth to the academies to fit for college, and though without 
means he was encouraged by his teachers to hope that he might be 
able to do the same. During the vacations, which sometimes nearly 
equalled in length the parts of the year devoted to study, he earned 
money by working in a boot shop, and in the wire works factory of 
S. & W. Lincoln. At the age of seventeen, in a little unpainted 
schoolhouse in the southwest corner of the town, he began what, after 
sundry vicissitudes, was to be his profession. His first pupils were 
the children in the district schools of Oakham. With a college edu- 
cation in view he persevered with his work as a teacher and kept on 
with his studies until he was able to go to Phillips Academy at 
Andover, Massachusetts, to round out his preparatory course. The 
influence of his own teachers in those country schools, and of the 
teachers at Phillips, Andover, was next to that of his home in shaping 
the course of his life. 

Then came the call to enlist in the service of his country, and he 
forsook everything else and responded to it. He had just finished 
his middle year in the academy, and the first goal of his ambition 
seemed near of attainment. It may be readily understood, there- 
fore, that nothing but the nation's service could have induced him to 
give up his cherished hopes, for it is one of his fixed principles that 
a course once decided on after due deliberation ought not to be 
abandoned. Many times since then has he told other young men 
when tempted to give up their studies for something easier or more 
lucrative, "Don't give up. Finish what you have once begun, and 
you will be stronger men for it all your lives." But the sacrifice, 
though great, was no doubt a cheerful one, and when he was once 



112 HENRY PAEKS WRIGHT 

enlisted he could apply to his own case the maxim which students 
who have sought him in his office have many times heard from his 
lips, "When once you have deliberately chosen a course., don't waste 
time and nerves in imagining what might have been if you had chosen 
differently." 

His service in the Civil War was with the Fifty-first Massachu- 
setts Volunteers, in which he was a sergeant in Company F. He had 
been offered a commission, but, being without military training, he 
preferred to enlist in the ranks. His trustworthy character and 
good judgment gained the confidence of both officers and men. He 
was especially helpful in the discipline of the Company and was often 
detailed for special service. 

On his return from the front, in August, 1863, after the expira- 
tion of his term of service, he resumed his studies at home, under the 
instruction of the Eev. Dr. F. N. Peloubet, who was then settled in 
Oakham, and entered Yale College in the fall of 1864. His faculties 
being trained in the school of hard experience and now matured, he 
accomplished his tasks with a degree of thoroughness which eventually 
gave him prominence among his classmates. Though having to 
devote much time to earning money in order that he might pay his 
own way, he won eminence in scholarship, particularly in the classics, 
took many honors, was elected to the senior society of Skull and 
Bones, and became valedictorian of the class of 1868. His was the 
highest stand ever attained up to that date, and it was a record that 
stood unequalled for a quarter of a century. 

The following September he was appointed instructor in Latin at 
Chickering Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he continued for a 
year and a half. In January, 1870, he returned to Yale to accept the 
position of instructor in Greek and Latin, becoming assistant pro- 
fessor of Latin in July, 1871, for five years. In July, 1876, he was 
appointed Dunham Professor of Latin. He had taken a graduate 
course in Latin and Sanskrit under Professor Thacher and Pro- 
fessor Whitney, and in 1876 received the degree of Ph.D. from Yale. 
Union College gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1895. From April, 
1877, to August, 1878, he was studying in Germany and Italy, 
chiefly at the universities of Gottingen and Berlin. Since 1884, when 
the office was created, he has been dean of the Yale College Faculty 
and the greater part of his time since then has been devoted to the 



HENEY PAEKS WEIGHT 113 

exacting duties of that position. In 1886 he was chosen a member of 
the Board of Trustees of the Hopkins Grammar School. 

Office and man were well met when Professor Wright was made 
dean. His recitations in Latin, from the earliest days, partook in no 
degree of the nature of hetcheling. Before Yale was a university, he 
was imbued with university ideas. He assumed that his pupils were 
not there for reformatory or disciplinary purposes; he loved the 
old classics, he gave freely of the fruits of his wide reading, he 
brought out the beauty of prose and verse when studied for a higher 
purpose than to illustrate the rules of syntax, and, while seldom rising 
to the point of enthusiasm in manner, he instilled into many young 
men the spirit of genuine scholarship. Indeed, when in later years 
the value of the Greek and Latin as required studies began to be 
questioned, and protests against their removal from the curriculum 
went up from hundreds of graduates, it may be that many of those 
protests sprang from recollection of old days in Professor Wright's 
recitation room — from men who, under his teaching, had learned 
their value for discipline and culture. 

But it was more than the art of teaching which fitted him for the 
deanship. To the stranger he may appear to be a man of great 
reserve, absorbed in deep thought, almost ascetic and, were it not for 
his kindly eye, austere. Professor Wright is so unassuming that 
he sometimes appears to be a sphinx, but he is a keen observer and 
a shrewd student of human nature. Many a college youth has been 
astonished to find how much the professor knew about his life. 

Now there are few college men to whom the time does not come 
when they need a bit of homely advice. These men will seldom 
voluntarily seek the help of which they only too clearly stand in 
need. Yet unless the word of counsel comes their lives may be 
embittered with the spirit of grouch. They would resent being 
directed by instructors of the private detective type, but sympathetic 
advice of the right kind, given in the right manner by one standing, 
in some respects, in loco parentis might change the whole tenor of 
their lives, and imbue them with the "Yale spirit" or the spirit of 
"Yale Democracy — or rather inspire them to imbue themselves 
with it, for Yale is a college of personal choice and direction. When 
the word comes from the Dean, it always is the right word, coming 
in the right way, and it bears fruit. 



114 HENRY PARKS WRIGHT 

Others there are who, in a strange community, sometimes per- 
plexed, sometimes discouraged, long for an expression of sympathy 
or helpfulness, or it may be, that this is what they are needing above 
all things without their being conscious of the fact. To be specific — a 
boy may find the expense of college too great for his resources, or, 
in the varied experiences of college life, a dilemma may arise which 
calls for a riper judgment and a richer experience than his own. Yale 
is indeed a college where before the end of the course is reached dis- 
tinctions as to worldly goods are forgotten and where every man 
has his chance, but the freshman or sophomore, struggling against 
an adverse fate, may for the moment lose sight of that fact for himself, 
reiterated though it is. Are there not hundreds of men to-day, 
occupying high positions of responsibility and usefulness, who can 
recall some slough of despond or doubt, which they passed through 
after entering college, and who were helped out of it by a few plain 
and simple words from the dean, perhaps unasked and unexpected? 

To the boy who was sacrificing his natural bent — toward litera- 
ture, for example — or who was losing the comradeship of college life 
that he might attain high stand, he whose record as a scholar is like 
a college tradition has said to him: "Your stand will take care 
of itself; no one will care in later years whether you were among 
the first five or the first fifty of your class. Put health first, 
indulge your fondness for literature, and above all get the best that 
Yale can give in the way of college friendships." To still another 
who sees no way opening before him of meeting his college expenses 
and who is getting anxious about the future, he suggests ways of getting 
on and says: "No man is so poor that he need leave Yale for lack 
of means. If he has good ability and the right spirit, he will find 
the means. A student who is supporting himself must have faith 
and should not be discouraged if he cannot see exactly how he is to 
get through another term." 

More than professor, more than dean, he is literally "guide, 
counsellor, and friend." No one knows the depth of feeling beneath 
that seemingly impassive surface. 

Professor Wright has been an efficient class secretary, and has 
published four editions of the history of his class, the last of which 
(1894) ranks among the best of the Yale Class Eecords. His 
annual reports of the Academical Department have in recent years 



HENKY PAEKS WEIGHT 115 

become especially valuable, and are read by the graduates of the 
college with interest. He has published several articles in books 
and magazines, and has edited the Satires of Juvenal (Ginn & Co., 
1901), including text, introduction, and commentary, which is quite 
extensively used as a text-book. He is a member of the College Church 
and his religion is his daily life. By walking and light gymnastics he 
gets the exercise to keep his well-proportioned body in good con- 
dition and does not age rapidly. 

He has lived since 1879 in a modest home at No. 128 York Street. 
His wife is Martha Elizabeth (Burt) Wright of Oakham, whom he 
married July 7th, 1874. They have had four children, of whom 
all but one are living: Alice Lincoln, born at Oakham, July 13th, 
1875; Henry Burt, born at New Haven, January 29th, 1877; Alfred 
Parks, born at New Haven, January 5th, 1880, and Ellsworth, bom at 
Oakham, August 22nd, 1884. Alice is a graduate of Wellesley Col- 
lege (1897), and received the degree of Ph.D. from Yale in 1901, 
after a course of graduate study in English. Henry graduated frona 
Yale in the class of 1898. He was president of the Yale Young 
Men's Christian Association in his senior year, and general secretary 
of the same for the three years following. He took his doctor's 
degree at Yale in 1903, and is now instructor in Greek and Latin 
at Yale. He was Joint editor with J. B. Reynolds and S. H. Fisher 
of "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale" (G. P. Putnam's 
Sons, 1901), and has published "The American College Course," an 
article in The Educational Review, and "The Campaign of Platgea," 
his doctor's thesis (Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1904). Alfred was 
a member of the class of 1901 at Yale, but died in his senior year, on 
May 20th, about a month before commencement. He was the first 
scholar in a class of two hundred and fifty members, and like his 
brother was prominent in the religious work of the college. 



RUSSELL HENRY CHITTENDEN 

CHITTENDEN, DOCTOR EUSSELL HENRY, professor of 
physiological chemistry in Yale University and director of the 
Sheffield Scientific School, is well known to medical scientists 
throughout the world and comes of old English stock. The first 
of his name in this country was Major William Chittenden, an 
officer in the English army, who, having resigned, came to America 
from Cranbrook, Kent, with his wife, Joanna Sheaffe, in 1639, and 
settled in Guilford, Connecticut. Ancestors of the professor, on both 
his father's and his mother's side, fought in the Revolutionary War, 
and Thomas Chittenden was governor of Vermont from 1778 to 1797. 
The professor is the son of Horace H. Chittenden, a business 
man in New Haven, and of Emily E. (Doane) Chittenden. He was 
born February 18th, 1856, in the University city. In earliest youth 
he manifested a special fondness for books and reading and when he 
entered the public schools was advanced rapidly. With the ambition 
to become a Yale man, he desired to have a thorough prepara- 
tion, and consequently finished his preliminary studies in 
Mr. French's private school, earning a large part of his tuition by 
giving instruction to pupils in the lower classes in Greek, Latin, 
and mathematics. At this early age, it is said, he displayed a 
remarkable aptitude for imparting knowledge and for inspiring others 
to work. His preference at that time was for the classics, but 
natural sciences came to have a fascination for him with the result 
that he concluded to take a course which should fit him to be a 
physician. The course he mapped out for himself, with such object 
in view, was comparatively novel in those days, in Europe as well as 
in America. To-day it is the only approved course — at Johns Hop- 
kins the only allowed course. It was to devolve upon him, as a life 
duty, to develop it for Yale and to be of greatest assistance in 
developing it on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Chemistry as applied to physiology was his particular study. It 
was about this time that what is known as the "biolo2;ical course" 



RUSSELL HENRY CHITTENDEN 117 

was planned at Sheffield Scientific School, but, while other branches 
had been encouraged, facilities were yet to be obtained for the more 
thorough study of physiology and physiological chemistry. In his 
senior year, an independent physiological chemistry laboratory 
was established. While, of course, it was under the charge 
of the professor, the care of it was intrusted to the hands 
of the young student who so keenly appreciated what was 
needed. The formal appointment of laboratory assistant was 
given him a year before his graduation. That might be 
called the inception of a course to which many eminent physicians 
and scientists to-day owe their development. 

When Professor Chittenden was graduated from Sheffield 
Scientific School, in 1875, with the degree of Ph.B., his thesis 
was accorded the honor of publication in the American Journal of 
Science and the further honor of being translated into German for 
publication in Liebig's Annalen der Chemie, at Leipsic. After 
graduation he was assistant and instructor in physiological chemistry 
in the school till 1882, when he was appointed full professor. The 
year 1878-79, he spent in Europe, chiefly at Heidelberg University, 
where he pursued his studies with Professor Kiihne. His writings 
by this time were attracting wide attention, a series in the American 
Chemical Journal over a period of several years winning particular 
commendation. 

In the summer of 1882, Professor Chittenden accepted an in- 
vitation from Professor Kiihne to return to Heidelberg, where the 
long summer vacation was devoted to a joint investigation into the 
physiology of digestion. Though the professor was constrained 
to return to his duties at Yale in the fall, this was but the beginning 
of a considerable term of labor in conjunction with the Heidelberg 
authority, one early result of which was a series of invaluable con- 
tributions to the Zeitschrift filr Biologic, published in Munich. All 
this information was welcomed earnestly by chemistry and medical 
students as throwing light upon subjects in digestion and nutrition 
hitherto lamentably obscure. 

The Professor's ambition to build up the course he practically 
had created was being realized. Its importance, not only to the 
university but to the whole world of scientific learning, had been 
made manifest by his earliest work; recognition brought enthusiasm 



118 RUSSELL HENKY CHITTENDEN 

and he was incited to still further exertion. Students from other 
departments of the university, especially those who had the medical 
profession for a preference, were quick to appreciate the value of the 
instruction under Professor Chittenden and under his assistants whom 
the increasing work had made necessary. A member of the govern- 
ing board, he was appointed director and treasurer of Sheffield 
Scientific School in 1898 and treasurer of the board of trustees 
six years later. His services were much in demand. In addition 
to his duties at Yale, he was called upon to lecture on physiological 
chemistry at Columbia University, New York, from 1898 to 1903. 

Another capacity in which he rendered service of great importance 
was as a member of the National Committee of Fifty for the investiga- 
tion of the drink problem. The volumes compiled by this body of 
deep thinkers cover the subject in all its details. Professor Chitten- 
den took up particularly the influence of alcoholic drink upon the 
chemical process of digestion and the effect upon secretion, absorp- 
tion, etc. 

It is indeed fortunate for the field of science that Professor 
Chittenden has had a ready pen. Indefatigable in his laboratory 
researches, he has been no less ready and prompt to put the results 
of his labors into clear language in books and magazines, to be read 
of all men. His achievements in this latter direction alone are 
wonderful. In addition to what has been mentioned already, he 
became an associate editor of the English Journal of Physiology in 
1890, and in 1896, associate editor of the Journal of Experimental 
Medicine. Then he was active in establishing the American Journal 
of Physiology, of which also he is one of the associate editors. 
In all he has contributed over two hundred scientific papers on 
physiology and physiological chemistry to American and foreign 
journals. 

Then there are his books, a mine of precious information. The 
first of special note is entitled "Studies in Physiological Chemistrjr'' 
(three volumes, 1885-1889), a compilation of the investigations of 
himself and his pupils, furnishing material which has been 
utilized in all standard text-books since then. "Digestive Proteoly- 
sis" was published in 1894 and "Studies in Physiological 
Chemistry," Yale series, appeared in 1901, to be followed by "Physio- 
logical Economy in Nutrition," in 1904. 



RUSSELL HENRY CHITTENDEN 119 

He has been in constant association with leaders in thought and 
research. He was made a member of the National Academy of 
Sciences in 1890. He is also a member of the American Philosophical 
Society, of the American Physiological Society (in the council since 
1887 and president 1895-1904), of the American Society of Natu- 
ralists (president in 1903), of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, and of other kindred organizations. 

Particular recognition of his eminent service to science was 
attested by Yale in 1880 when she gave him the degree of Ph.D. 
The University of Toronto honored him with the degree of LL.D. in 
1903, and the University of Pennsylvania with that of Sc.D. in 1904. 

In politics, Professor Chittenden is a Eepublican. His religious 
affiliations are with the Protestant Episcopal Church. A lover, as a 
student, of nature, he delights in outdoor recreation and he coimts 
as chief among his pastimes that which was raised to a high art 
by Izaak Walton. His home, at No. 83 Trumbull Street, is presided 
over by his wife, who was Gertrude L. Baldwin. They were married 
June 20th, 1877, and have had three children: Edith Eussell, B.A., 
Smith College, 1899; Alfred Knight, Ph.B., Yale, 1900, M.F., Yale, 
1902, and Lilla Millard. 

As an appreciation of what Professor Chittenden has achieved at 
Yale, a single sentence may be quoted from the address of President 
Daniel C. Oilman of Johns Hopkins University at the semi-centennial 
of Sheffield Scientific School. It was this : "Nowhere else in this coun- 
try, not in many European laboratories, has such work been attempted 
and accomplished as is now in progress on Hillhouse Avenue, un- 
observed, no doubt, by those who daily pass the laboratory door, but 
watched with welcoming anticipation wherever physiology and 
medicine are prosecuted in the modern spirit of research." 



HENRY AUGUSTIN BEERS 

BEEES, PEOF. HENKY AUGUSTIN, of Yale University, 
was born in Buffalo, JSTew York, on July 2nd, 1847. The 
name was formerly spelled Bere, and the subject of this biogra- 
phy is descended from James Bere, who came to this country in April, 
1634, in the "Elizabeth," from Ipswich, England, with his brother, 
Anthony, and his uncle, Eichard. After some years in Massachusetts, 
seemingly in Watertown and Eoxbury, James removed to Fairfield, 
Connecticut, in 1659. Like so many others of the early Fairfield 
families, his descendants followed the line of the Housatonic Eiver 
northward, to make their home in Litchfield County, in Woodbury, 
and later in Litchfield. For the most part they were farmers or 
country merchants. 

So nearly as can be learned, Seth Preston Beers, grandfather of 
the professor, was the first of the famil}^ to chose a professional life. 
He may have been aided in his choice by the influence of the famous 
Litchfield Law School, where so many distinguished lawyers were 
graduated. After his course of study in that institution, he rose 
to prominence in the Bar of the State, particularly in western Con- 
necticut, and the strength of his name — the esteem in which he was 
held — must have done much toward securing for Litchfield County 
the title of "Democratic stronghold." Sent to the capitol as repre- 
sentative from Litchfield, he was chosen Speaker of the House of 
Eepresentatives several times and later was the choice of the Demo- 
cratic party for the governorship. One position of high responsibility 
which he held for a quarter of a century was that of Commissioner 
of the Connecticut School Fund. 

The mother of Professor Beers was Elizabeth Victoria Clerc, and 
his father was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, of which his 
father was at one time a trustee. He was admitted to the Bar, but 
turned his attention to commerce, engaging in the wholesale grocery 
business on "the dock" at Buffalo, New York. Later he was called 
to Washington, where he was head clerk of a bureau in the Depart- 
ment of the Interior, in Franklin Pierce's administration. He after- 



HENRY AUGUSTIN BEERS 121 

wards returned to Litchfield and devoted the rest of his life to 
assisting his father and especially to the management of the farm 
and gardens. Like his father he was a strong Democrat. Both, also, 
were earnest Episcopalians, and the elder, at his death, left the 
chief part of his estate to St. Michael's Church, Litchfield, of which 
for many years he had been senior warden. 

Mr. Beers's grandfather on his mother's side was Laurent Clerc, 
born in La Balme, France, of which city his forefathers had been 
notaries and mayors for many generations. Clerc was a deaf mute. 
Educated at the Royal Institution in Paris and a favorite pupil of the 
famous Abbe Sicard, he came to America with Thomas Gallaudet and 
taught all his life at the first school of its kind in this country which 
is known to-day as the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb of 
Hartford. 

The Professor in his youth divided his time between Hartford and 
Litchfield. In Hartford he had the advantages of the Hartford 
Public High School, from which he was graduated at the age of 
seventeen. Not only his father but several cousins and uncles on 
both sides of the family had been graduated from Trinity College, 
but he followed the tradition of the high school and decided to go 
to Yale. Before entering upon the collegiate course he took a year 
off, spending the winter in Buffalo and the summer in Litchfield. 

At Yale, where he took honors and was graduated with the class 
of 1869, Greek, Latin, the modern languages, history, and political 
science were his favorite studies; and he took a post-graduate course 
in Anglo-Saxon and old French. While in college he was a member 
of the Alpha Delta Phi and Skull and Bones societies. 

Following the steps of his father and grandfather, he studied 
law in the office of Pierrepont, Stanley, Langdell & Brown, No. 
16 Wall Street, New York, and after six months, in May, 1870, was 
admitted to the Bar of New York State. For a year thereafter he was 
managing clerk in the law office of Merchant & Elliott on Warren 
Street, New York. 

In 1871, he accepted an appointment as instructor in English at 
Yale University, and there he has remained, being promoted to an 
assistant professorship in 1875 and to a full professorship in 1880. 
Yale conferred upon him the degree of M.A. 

He married Mary Heaton of Covington, Kentucky, on July 7th, 
1873, and they have had eight children; Thomas Heaton, born June 
23rd, 1875; Elizabeth Clerc, born October 21st, 1877; Katherine, 



122 HENEY AUGUSTIN BEERS 

born September 9th, 1879; Frederic, born December 18th, 1880; 
Dorothy, born January 21st, 1883; Mary Heaton, born August 6th, 
1885; Henry Augustin, born August 28th, 1887, and Donald, bom 
January 19th, 1889, all of whom are living. His residence is at No. 
25 Vernon Street, New Haven. 

Among his publications may be mentioned: "A Century of 
American Literature," 1878; "Odds and Ends," 1878; "Nathaniel 
Parker Willis," 1885; "Prose Writings of N. P. Willis," 
1885; "The Thankless Muse" (verse), 1885; "From Chaucer 
to Tennyson," 1890; "Initial Studies in American Letters," 1891; 
"Selections from Prose Writings of S. T. Coleridge," 1893; "A 
Suburban Pastoral and Other Tales," 1894; "The Ways of Yale," 
1895 ; "A history of English Eomanticism in the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury," 1899; "A History of English Eomanticism in the Nineteenth 
Century," 1901, and "Points at Issue," 1904. In addition, he has 
contributed a large number of short stories, poems and essays to the 
leading periodicals, and articles to cyclopedias, dictionaries and other 
books of reference. All of his works have received the commendation 
of the reviewers, but by none is he known to Yale and college men in 
general better than by "The Ways of Yale," which the critics declared 
the best college book ever written in America. 

In politics, the professor is true to the party of his father and 
grandfather. He has held no public office and contents himself with 
voting the Democratic ticket steadily and with doing what he can 
to disseminate sound democracy by pen and word of mouth. 

Burton J. Hendrick in his article on "Some Literary Instructors 
at Yale" says: "Professor Beers prefers to surround himself with a 
few choice spirits, men who are attracted purely by the love of 
literature and who respond readily to the fine things of poetry and 
art. With these recitations become, rather, informal discussions; 
and to men of this kind, men whom — in a literary sense — he Iniows 
that he can trust, the richness of his own nature readily unfolds 
itself. He is one of the most approachable men on the Yale Faculty; 
in every way a congenial spirit and a don enfant; one of the few 
professors who can throw aside the conventional trappings of the 
scholar and meet his undergraduate friends as man to man. It, there- 
fore, happens that many of the finest young men at Yale, especially 
those of literary bent, find their steps gravitating in the most natural 
way toward his little unfurnished room in Farnam College." 




ly(^^iyZ^£-n^-ejL 





C'^^^Ur^- 



FLAVEL S. LUTHER, JR. 

EA RLY in the seventeenth century, an Englishman, John Luther, 
emigrated to this country, and settled in Swansea, Massachu- 
setts. He was killed by the Indians in 164-i, leaving a son, 
Hezekiah, the progenitor of the northern Luthers. This John Luther 
was the second in descent from Johannes Luther, a German, a brother 
of the great reformer, Martin Luther, who had settled in Sussex 
County, England. 

It may not be altogether fanciful to attribute the sterling quali- 
ties of moral courage, fidelity to conviction, and directness of speech 
which have marked the Massachusetts and Connecticut Luthers to the 
sturdy, uncompromising temper of their remote German ancestors. 
The subject of this sketch is, however, the ninth in descent from the 
German settler, Captain John, and has in his veins numerous strains 
of the best Puritan stock. 

His father, Flavel S. Luther, Sr., was born in Providence, E,. L, 
but settled in Brooklyn, Connecticut, where his son, Flavel S. Luther, 
Jr., was born March 26th, 1850. Brookljoi is a typical farming town 
of N'ew England, and was the home of General Israel Putnam and 
Godfrey Malbone, and the community is an admirable example of the 
industrious, intelligent. God-fearing descendants of the Puritans. 
Here the boy was subject to the educating influences of field and 
stream and outdoor life, and household helpfulness, and social self- 
respect which have made so many vigorous and able men. The relig- 
ious atmosphere of Puritanism has been sometimes repressive, but the 
social atmosphere of the old-time New England village has always been 
bracing, natural, and conducive to manly vigor and independence. 
Young Luther went to the schools which the village afforded, and was 
noted as a good scholar especially in mathematics. His father was 
engaged in mercantile business, and the acquaintanceship of the son 
with the farmers in a circuit of four miles was large. Thus he came 
to know American life and character from the foundation, even before 
he went to college. This, of course, might be said of many American 



126 FLAVEL SWEETEN LUTHER, JR. 

country boys, but it is not ever}' one that has the sensibility and the 
judgment to build on early experience a full comprehension of 
pational character as Abraham Lincoln, Whittier, Emerson, and a few 
others of our eminent men have done. 

His schooling finished, he went to Trinity College, Hartford, 
where he entered as sophomore in his eighteenth year, and was grad- 
uated at the age of twenty. He was, of course, too young to attain the 
highest rank in college, but he was graduated third in his class and 
took the first mathematical prize. 

In the fall of 1870 he went to Troy, New York, and took charge 
of a parish school of one hundred members. His success as a teacher 
and disciplinarian was marked, though in addition to his duties he 
studied theology under the Eev. Dr. Coit, and was ordained a deacon 
in the Episcopal Church by Bishop Doane, as soon as he was of age. 

In 1873, having previously married Isabel Blake Ely of Hart- 
ford, ho was appointed rector of the large Episcopal school in 
Kacine, Wisconsin. He devoted himself assiduously to the study of 
mathematics, and in 1876 was made professor of mathematics in 
Racine College, a position which he held till 1881, when he was elected 
to the chair of mathematics in Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio. He 
remained in Gambler but two years, for in 1883 he was called to the 
chair of mathematics and astronomy in Trinity College, Hartford, 
thirteen years after his graduation. He filled this position very accept- 
ably till he was elected president on the resignation of Dr. George W. 
Smith in the summer of 1904, having been acting president for a year 
previously. 

While teaching mathematics and astronomy in Hartford, Pro- 
fessor Luther acted as consulting engineer for the Pope Manufactur- 
ing Company, in the development of the bicycle. One of his inven- 
tions is used on every bicycle, and was of so much value that the 
company voluntarily made him a handsome present in addition to his 
salary. Like many Connecticut men, the inventive faculty is strongly 
developed in Professor Luther. He is a member of the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers, and had he devoted himself to the 
profession of mechanical engineering would no doubt have achieved a 
marked success. As it is, practical knowledge of mechanics is only 
one of the many sides in which his interest in modem life is mani- 
fested. 



FLAVEL SWEETEN LUTHER^ JR. 127 

Professor Luther, or, as we must now call him, President Luther, 
is in many ways peculiarly fitted for an educator. His life has been 
spent in teaching, and the fact that he began with schoolboys widened 
his experience, as did also the fact that he taught in the Middle 
West as well as in 'New England. He was in his youth a noted athlete, 
and his interest in outdoor sports helps to put him en rapport with 
young men. The beautiful athletic field of Trinity is due almost 
entirely to his exertions. Understanding students and sympathizing 
with them as he does, he is still a stern disciplinarian whenever the 
vital interests of the institution over which he presides are at stake, 
and he possesses the power of discerning when a breach of discipline is 
vital, and when it is venial. By nature genial and sympathetic, long 
experience and natural common sense have made him a discerning 
but lenient judge of human nature as manifested in American youth, 
and an executive at once prompt and judicious. He joins to this a 
theoretical knowledge of the science of education, and a practical 
knowledge of the necessity of modifying the rigid laws under the limi- 
tations of circumstances and of individual cases. 

As a clergyman he is familiar with the best literature of our lan- 
guage, and as a man of science he is in accord with the modern spirit. 
This is a rare combination, more rare perhaps in our country than in 
England — the combination of the technical man with the man of gen- 
eral culture in the "humanities." 

President Luther is an admirable speaker; direct, simple and sin- 
cere, always enforcing a comprehensible point, and rising at times to 
forcible and eloquent presentation, or to some poetic illustration flow- 
ing naturally from the subject. He speaks entirely without notes, and 
in a conversational manner. He is an excellent preacher, and his 
sermons to the students have not been equaled in appeal to the higher 
natures of young men since Thomas Arnold preached to the boys at 
Rugby. 

President Luther received the well merited degree of LL.D. 
from his alma mater in 1904, just previous to his formal inaugura- 
tion. 

Trinity is fortunate in finding one of her graduates so thoroughly 
competent to assume the multifarious duties of the presidency, and 
one so devoted to the profession of teaching that he has repeatedly 
declined the pastorates of large chvirches, and one so devoted to her 



128 FLAVEL SWEETEN" LUTHER, JR. 

that he refused the presidency of Kenyon while a professor in his own 
college. 

A modern college president must possess some knowledge of the 
general principles of modern education. He must not be exclusively 
technical, but it is necessary that he understand the bearing of modem 
science on modern training. He must be entirely devoid of the dis- 
trust of scientific thought and scientific methods that mark many 
clergymen. He must love teaching and have sympathy with youth 
and a general comprehension of the way in which young men can be 
developed. He must have had long experience in the profession of 
teaching. He must possess executive ability and energy enough to 
keep things moving, and tact enough to keep them moving in the right 
direction. He must know when to be firm and when to yield slightly 
in the interests of conciliation, and, when he is firm, he must be firm 
without being brutal. He must be enthusiastically interested in the 
college he serves, and not given to magnifying his office. He must be 
able to discern among the many young recruits to the teaching pro- 
fession, the ones who will second his efforts with zeal, and who are 
likely to make their mark in science or learning. In addition to this 
it is highly desirable that he possess the power of making brief ad- 
dresses on all imaginable occasions, and of presenting succinctly all 
college questions to the trustees and the alumni. In a word, he must 
be a man of ability in several distinct lines ; a scholar, an administra- 
tor, a man of affairs and a judge of human nature. President Luther 
combines as many of these qualifications as any man in the country, 
and is consequently entitled to be considered a man of mark, for 
fifteen years hence he will have made his mark in the educational 
world. In one respect he may not prove equal to the foremost 
of his colleagues, and that is in the ability to persuade men of 
wealth to interest themselves in his college. Our educational 
institutions do not pay their way in dollars and cents. Every 
year the income deficiency is made up by donations from friends. 
A college with a surplus from invested funds at the end of 
a fiscal year would be an anomaly in the educational world. But the 
gifts to a college usually come in small sums, and President Luther 
will attract these, for there are many who know that he is doing a good 
work with insufficient means. If he should ever suggest to some very 
rich man that a gift to Trinity College would serve the highest inter- 



PLAVEL SWEETEN LUTHER, JR. 



139 



ests of society, such suggestion will be made in a frank, open manner 
and without any undignified solicitation. We are inclined to think 
however that the rich man will be left to find out the situation fo; 
himself, for there are rich men in our country who are ready to help an 
institution which is helping the country, and are heartily sick of the 
skillful cajoling and flattery to which they are subjected by applicants 
for their bounty, and President Luther does not know how to flatter 
He does however, seem to know how to excite the enthusiasm and in- 
terest of the alumui, and the respect and regard of his students 



CHARLES FREDERICK JOHNSON 

PEOFESSOR JOHNSON was bom May 8th, 1836, in the house 
of his maternal grandfather, William W.Woolsey, at the comer 
of Rector and Greenwich streets. New York. The lot is now 
occupied by one of the tall office buildings which add to the conven- 
ience as much as they detract from the beauty of the lower part of the 
city. At that period Canal Street was the upper limit of the closely 
built part of New York, and many of the old New Yorkers lived in 
the lower part of Broadway. Through his maternal grandmother, 
Elizabeth Dwight, daughter of Mary Edwards Dwight, Professor 
Johnson is descended from Jonathan Edwards. His paternal grand- 
mother was Katharine Livingston Bayard, daughter of Nicholas Bay- 
ard. His grandfather on his fathers side was William Samuel John- 
son of Stratford, the president of King's College, now Columbia Uni- 
versity. While he was still very young his parents moved to Owego, 
Tioga County, New York, where he lived till he went to college. The 
country was then undeveloped and the journey of nearly a week was 
made in a carriage to Albany. Even when the road was made south- 
west through Pennsylvania to the Hudson at Newburgh, the journey 
by stage to New York occupied three days and two nights. The neigh- 
borhood was much in the condition so well described by Cooper in the 
"Pioneers." The facilities for education were very meager and con- 
fined largely to the family. Professor Johnson's mother was a woman 
of refined literary taste and taught her children French and Spanish 
and read to them the English classics of the period, making them 
learn much of Scott's poetry by heart. An English clergyman, 
stranded by chance in the back country, taught Latin and Greek, pay- 
ing more attention to the translation and scanning than to the gram- 
mar. Euclid and algebra were taught largely by the father. At the 
age of sixteen, however, the lad was able to enter the sophomore class 
of Yale College and to maintain a fine standing, especially in mathe- 
matics. After graduation he became an apprentice to a machine shop 
in Detroit, Michigan, and reached the dignity of a journeyman. A 



CHARLES FREDERICK JOHNSON 131 

malarial fever injured his health so much that he returned and studied 
law in an office in Owego. The practice of the profession was not 
agreeable to him and, in 1865, he became assistant professor of mathe- 
matics in the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Here he remained 
for six years and then engaged in the manufacture of steam engines 
and agricultural implements at Owego. In 1883 he became professor 
of English literature at Trinity College, Hartford, where he has re- 
mained ever since. For some time previous he had done considerable 
literary work in the magazines of the day. 

While living in Hartford Professor Johnson has published a 
small volume of verse and a number of text-books and a volume of 
literary essays. His "Outline History of English and American 
Literature" has met with a large sale, especially in the West. For 
some time he acted as literary editor on the Hartford Gourant and 
contributor to the editorial page. He also contributed for several 
years, up to 1885, to the editoral page of the Hartford Times and 
frequently to other journals. He is at present engaged on a history 
of Shakesperian Criticism, though it may be considered doubtful if he 
finishes it. 

Professor Johnson married, in 1871, Elizabeth Jarvis Mc Alpine, 
who died in 1881, leaving two children, Woolsey Mc Alpine and Jarvis 
McAlpine, now of Hartford. Two years later he married Ellen Wads- 
worth Terry of Cleveland, whose parents, Dr. Charles Terry and Julia 
Woodbridge, both of Hartford, had gone to the Western Eeserve in 
early life. She, too, died in 1896. 



HENRY FERGUSON 

PROFESSOE HENRY FERGUSON was born in Stamford, of a 
family long and honorably connected with business in ]^ew 
York City. He was graduated from Trinity College with the 
degree of A.B. in 1868. Soon after his graduation he went with his 
brother Samuel on a sailing vessel in the Pacific. The ship was 
burned and the crew and passengers took refuge in two boats. One of 
these, under the command of the mate, was never heard from. The 
other, in charge of the captain, laid a course for the Sandwich Islands 
and after a voyage of forty days reached one of the smaller islands. 
The sailors and the young Fergusons were so nearly exhausted that 
they had to be carried through the surf by the natives. An account 
of this remarkable experience published in Harper s Magazine was 
written by Samuel Clemens, who was on the island at the time, and it 
is one of the first, if not the very first occurrence of the signature, 
"Mark Twain," in an Eastern magazine. Samuel Ferguson died in 
California soon after and Henry studied theology in the Berkeley 
Divinity School. In 1872 he was made rector of Christ Church in 
Exeter, N. H., and in 1878 rector of Trinity Church, Claremont, in 
the same state. In 1883 he became professor of history and political 
economy in Trinity College, a position he filled with distinguished 
credit until commencement in 1906, when he resigned to become 
rector of St. Paul's School, Concord, IST. H. In 1873 he married 
Emma J, Gardiner, daughter of Professor Gardiner of the Berkeley 
Divinity School. 

Professor Ferguson is a man of broad interests and multifarious 
learning. His original specialty was Hebrew, and his "Essay on the 
Use of Hebrew Verbs" (1880) gave evidence of careful research. His 
professorship compelled wide reading in history and his books "Four 
Periods in the Life of the Church" and his "Essays in American 
History" show accurate scholarship in a different field. He received 
from his Alma Mater the degree of M.A., in 1875, and of LL.D., 
in 1902. He is a member of all the associations for political and 



HENRT FERGUSON 133 

social science in our country and of the British Economic Association, 
and also of the Century and University Clubs of New York. He has 
travelled extensively in Egypt and Europe, and, indeed, has visited 
every quarter of the globe. His time and ample means have been 
devoted to two objects, scholarly culture and doing good to his fellow- 
men. 

Besides his literary and academic activity Professor Ferguson has 
always been ready to devote himself unselfishly to the service of the 
community. He has been for several years an active and energetic 
member of the Board of Park Commissioners of the City of Hartford, 
and has held steadily in view the theory that the system of parks in a 
modern city should be developed not solely with the idea of beautifying 
the urban surroundings, but to furnish places of recreation to the chil- 
dren of the city. The debt of the people of Hartford to him and to 
several other public spirited citizens in this regard can hardly be over- 
estimated. It is a service which is unpaid, except in the satisfaction 
of having done good and by the recognition of the few who know how 
important its future effects will be. Future generations will enjoy the 
parks of Hartford without giving a thought to the names of the 
men to whom it is due that they form a well connected whole, devel- 
oped on a systematic plan and acquired at a comparatively small cost. 
In taking the rectorship of St. Paul's School, Professor Ferguson is 
actuated by the idea that he can be useful in moulding the character 
of a large number of boys with whom he will come directly in contact. 
The headship of a large and well established school offers a sphere of 
even wider influence than the professorship in a college and involves 
more constant labor. It is a sacrifice in a man of Professor Ferguson's 
age to assume a new task, a sacrifice of comfort and ease to the desire 
for usefulness. 



KARL WILHELM GENTHE 

PROFESSOK GENTHE was born at Leipzig, Germany, in 
1871. His father was an officer of the University and the boy 
enjoyed the excellent advantages of the German school system. 
He early showed a bent towards natural science, to the developing of 
which the influence of his mother contributed. Upon graduation 
from St. Thomas's "Gymnasium," he made zoology his special study 
in the University and received the degree of Ph.D., "summa cum 
laude," in 1897. The following year he came to Boston, Massachu- 
setts, where he acted as private tutor for a year, and then went to the 
University of Michigan as instructor in zoology. There he remained 
for two years and then came to Trinity College in 1901 as instructor. 
In 1903 he was made assistant professor of natural history, a posi- 
tion which he still holds. He has contributed to German and Amer- 
ican scientific periodicals, is a fellow of the "American Association 
for the Advancement of Science" and the "American Society of 
Zoologists." 

Professor Genthe is recognized as an authority in his specialty 
and an accomplished microscopist. At the same time he is a man of 
multifarious acquirements, a type of the German "Gelehrte." He is 
widely read in general literature and in philosophy, and an unusually 
retentive memory enables him to acquire the substance of a book from 
a single reading. He is hardly less a master of modern psychology 
than of his own specialty. It can hardly be doubted that in ten years 
he will rank among the best informed zoologists of the country and he 
deserves to do so even now. His philosophical training enables him to 
correlate his knowledge of the science of physical life with the 
doctrines of the wider field of psychology and ontology, and prevents 
him from narrowing his mind to the bare classification of facts with- 
out regard to their bearing in the great questions of life. Although 
a learned man in the fullest sense he is a patient and successful teacher 
of beginners, capable at once of starting his pupils in the right path 
and of accompanying them no matter how far they wish to go. 

Early in 1901 Professor Genthe married Martha Krug, herself 
one of the few German women who have earned the title of Ph.D. at 
Heidelberg. 



BRADFORD PAUL RAYMOND 

RAYMOND, BRADFOED PAUL, Ph.D., D.D., president of 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, educator, 
author, and preacher, was born in Stamford, Fairfield County, 
Connecticut, April 22nd, 1846. He is of English descent and traces 
his ancestry in this country to Richard Raymond, who came from Eng- 
land to Salem, Massachusetts, and was a freeman there in May, 1634. 
Dr. Raymond's father was Lewis Raymond, a farmer and a man of 
strong personality and intense convictions. He was a man of social 
inclinations, radical opinions, and democratic principles, and a firm 
believer in the "brotherhood of man." He was selectman in Stamford 
and otherwise active in town affairs. His wife. Dr. Raymond's 
mother, whose maiden name was Sallie A. Jones, was a woman of 
remarkably fine character and one who exerted a particularly strong 
influence upon her son's moral and spiritual life. 

The boy Bradford Raymond was blessed with a robust consti- 
tution and health far above the average boy. He spent most of his 
youth in the country and as the family was large there were plenty of 
duties for him to perform on the farm and in the house. He was de- 
termined to acquire an education, even though it must necessarily be 
self-earned. From 1852 to 1861 he attended school in his native town, 
Stamford, and in 1861, when he was but fifteen, he taught school 
that he might earn the means of further education. Indeed he 
"tried everything going" as a means to that worthy end and worked 
at farming, teaching, singing-school teaching, basket making, and 
preaching for the accomplishment of his purpose. 

Dr. Raymond spent three years at Hamline University, Red Wing, 
Minnesota, and subsequently took his academic degree at Lawrence 
University, Appleton, Wisconsin. In 1873 he took his B.D. degree at 
the Boston University after a three years' course there. He was 
dominated by the conviction that he ought to preach and he was in 
the pastorate of the Methodist Episcopal Church from 1871 to 1883. 
From 1874, the year following his ordination, until 1877 he was 



138 BRADFORD PAUL RAYMOND 

pastor of the Allen Street Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
and from 1887 to 1880 he preached in Providence, R. I. In 1880 
and 1881 he studied in Germany, at Leipzig and Gottingen and upon 
his return he received his Ph.D. degree at Boston University in 1881. 
He was pastor of a church in Nashua, New Hampshire, from 1881 
until 1883, when he was called back to his Alma Mater, Lawrence 
University, to be its president and head. He served in that re- 
sponsible capacity until 1889, when he was called to the presidency 
of Wesleyan University, the position he now holds. In 1896 he 
took a second trip abroad for further study at the German universities 
and returned at the end of a year. The honorary degree of D.D. was 
conferred upon him by the Northwestern University in 1894 and by 
Yale University in 1901. 

As the head of Wesleyan University, Dr. Raymond has done and 
is doing most valuable work for the highest good of college and 
faculty and Wesleyan has advanced in every way under his adminis- 
tration. He has been highly instrumental in increasing and 
strengthening the material resources of the university, in preserving 
and purifying the "college spirit," and in raising the standard of 
scholarship. He has a strong personality and the faculty of leader- 
ship to a marked degree. As a scholar and educator he is of highest 
rank, for he has the gift of teaching and the mind of a true scholar. 
His generous sympathies and absolute Justice win the loyalty and 
admiration of the student body and his executive ability and 
scholarly methods make him a fitting head of the faculty. As a 
student Dr. Raymond is a man of high attainment in the field of 
philosophical, ethical, and theological study, and as a writer and 
speaker he is clear, forcible, and interesting. As a preacher he is one 
of the ablest of his denomination and his careful training, his elo- 
quence, and his deeply religious nature make him a distinct "power 
for good" in the university. His chief written work, "Christianity 
and the Christ," which he published in 1894, embodies the views, 
beliefs, and personality of a deep student, a sincere theologian, an 
able writer, and a true Christian. 

A life truly devoted to study has little time for social, fraternal, 
or political interests and Dr. Raymond is no exception to the rule 
suggested by this fact. With the exception of one year, from Sep- 
tember, 1864, to July, 1865, spent in military service in the ranks 



BEADPOKD PADL RAYMOND jgo 

Of the 48th New York Regiment, he has spent his life in scholarlT 
pursuits^ In politics Dr. Raymond is a eonseientiou Renub Lai 
though he has never wished or held offlee. In 1873 he maXd Lu,u 
Towttg' "" '^ '" " *=" ''''■"^^'' -^ '- »f tl'e five t 
As a scholar and edwator, as a theologian and preacher and as 
Cd orf PaTs "^ °'?r,r '''''' ^^^ EnglandlniveX d" 
.e 1- i , . . '^uiiiitjciicut. He IS an admirablp 9\arr,-nla 

stacles m the way of gammg an education and of the importance 
of a strong and single purpose in life. importance 



FEANCIS GANG BENEDICT 

BENEDICT, FRANCIS GANG, Ph.D., chemist, educator and 
scientific writer, instructor and associate professor of chemis- 
try at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, presi- 
dent of the Middletown Scientific Association and author of "Chemical 
Lecture Experiments," was bom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 
3rd, 1870. His father was Washington Gano Benedict, a man of in- 
domitable energy and business integrity, whose occupation in life was 
the management of real estate and electric railways. Dr. Benedict's 
mother was Harriet Emily Benedict, and from her came his first 
great stimulus to intellectual activity. 

A city-bred boy, endowed with excellent health and great mental 
vigor, it was natural that Francis Benedict should seek and acquire the 
highest education. His greatest interest was in the natural sciences, 
in the study of which he showed marked zeal and aptitude. Out- 
side of school hours, in his early youth, he had a certain amount of 
manual labor to do, which inculcated valuable habits of responsibility 
and industry. He prepared for college at the Boston Latin School 
and the English High School in Boston, and then entered Harvard 
University, where he received his A.B. degree in 1893 and his A.M. 
degree in 1894. During his courses at Harvard he earned his way 
by acting as instructor in chemistry in the Massachusetts College of 
Pharmacy in Boston. After taking his Master's degree at Harvard, 
he went abroad and studied at the University of Heidelberg, where 
he was granted the degree of Ph.D. in 1895. 

In 1896, soon after his return from Germany, Dr. Benedict became 
instructor and, later, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, Middletown, and he has held the position continuously since 
that time. From 1895 to 1900 he was chemist at Storrs Experiment 
Station, and since 1898 has been physiological chemist of the Nutrition 
Investigations of the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1899 
he published his "Elementary Organic Analysis," and in 1900 his 
"Chemical Lecture Experiments," and he has contributed many in- 



FRANCIS GANO BENEDICT 141 

teresting, original, and authentic papers to various leading scientific 
journals. He has conducted some very fruitful and important investi- 
gations into the nutrition of man with the respiration calorimeter. In 
the lecture room, the laboratory, and through the scientific press Dr. 
Benedict has done much to foster scientific research, and to conduct 
that research along practical lines. He is a true scholar, an able 
writer, a zealous and capable educator, and a most enthusiastic and 
authoritative scientist. 

Dr. Benedict is a member of the American Chemical Society, the 
Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft, the American Physiological Society, 
the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the Middletown 
Scientific Association, of which he is president, the University Club 
of Middletown, and the college fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa. In 
creed he is an Episcopalian, and in politics a Eepublican. Boating is 
his most pleasurable summer diversion, and music his winter pas- 
time. In 1897 Dr. Benedict married Cornelia Golay, by whom he has 
had one child. He believes the most helpful influence upon his work 
to have come from his private study, and the greatest incentive to suc- 
cess from his college chemistry professor, Josiah P. Cooke, of Harvard, 
with whom he was intimately associated during his college course. Dr. 
Benedict advises men to practice "total abstinence from liquors or to- 
bacco, under the age of forty years." He is still a young man, and the 
scientific world may reasonably expect still greater results of his 
work. 



CALEB THOMAS WINCHESTER 

WINCHESTER, CALEB THOMAS, educator, lecturer and 
writer, professor of English literature at Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, Middletown, Connecticut, was born in Montville, 
Connecticut, January 18th, 1847, and is a descendant of John Win- 
chester, who was born in England in 1616, settled in what is now 
Brookline, Massachusetts, and died in 1694. Professor Winchester's 
father was Rev. George H. Winchester, a "plain and earnest" 
minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother was Lucy 
Thomas Winchester, a woman of quick intellect, refined tastes and 
gentle manners, to whom he credits "everything good" in his character. 
Through her, Professor Winchester is descended from Dr. Francis Le 
Baron, a native of France who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
about 1635 and who was, according to tradition, a French nobleman 
and refugee. 

From the time he was seven until he was sixteen years of age 
Caleb Winchester lived on a small farm in southeastern Massachusetts, 
and for the hard but profitable experience in all kinds of work where 
farming is of the poorest he heartily thanks God. The labor strength- 
ened his none too robust constitution and stored up health and vigor 
sufficient to keep him a well man all his later days, and, he says, "more 
than that, it opened my eyes to the charm of outdoors, taught me the 
ways of plants and animals and the look of land and sky. It taught 
me what manual labor is and what it costs, and gave me a first-hand 
knowledge of a most interesting set of opinions, customs and preju- 
dices that I should otherwise never have learned." He was naturally 
a student, and though the range of reading accessible in his early life 
was not wide, it was good and afforded him an intimacy with history 
and poetry. His education was for the most part self-earned and was 
acquired at an academy in Middleborough, Massachusetts, at Wesleyan 
Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and at Wesleyan University, 
Middletown, Connecticut, where he was graduated in 1869. At the 
beginning of the following college year he entered upon the duties of 



CALEB THOMAS WINCHESTER 143 

librarian of Wesleyan and he has been connected with the college 
ever since. 

In 1872 Professor Winchester took the chair of English litera- 
ture at Wesleyan, and he has held it ever since, giving to the students 
courses that are both scholarly and popular and winning a place 
second to none in the field of literary appreciation and criticism. He 
has been a frequent and favorite lecturer at Amherst, Princeton, 
Johns Hopkins, Wells, and many other colleges and institutions of 
learning and before many more general audiences. In 1880 and 1881 
he studied abroad, mostly in Leipsic, and, though he took no degree 
there, he has since received the honorary degree of L.H.D. from 
Dickinson College. In 1892 he published his compact, stimulating, 
and scholarly book "Five Short Courses of Reading" and in 1900 he 
put forth a revised edition of this valuable work. In 1899 he pub- 
lished "Some Principles of Literary Criticism" which has the useful- 
ness of a handbook and the merit of true literary worth as well. He 
has been a constant and well known contributor to a number of the 
leading magazines and journals. His last work, "The Life of John 
Wesley," issued in the spring of 1906, has received high commenda- 
tion from the best critics. 

Professor Winchester has made teaching his vocation and lecturing 
his avocation. As a teacher he is most certainly a master of the 
art, for he is enthusiastic and inspiring, approachable and sympa- 
thetic, thorough and earnest, with a lively interest in both subjects 
and students. His courses are among the most popular in the Uni- 
versity, to which many go to specialize in English literature. The 
clear diction and incisive reasoning, deep humor and sharp wit, the 
charm of delivery, the keen, critical ability and strong intellectuality 
that have made him such a favorite on the lecture platform are all at 
their best in the class room. As a critic of Shakespeare he has given 
the literary world some truly original matter and his lectures on the 
Lake Poets of England and the English Essayists are real works of 
literature, so pure and graceful is his English, so thorough and sen- 
sitive his appreciation and so charming is his literary style. 

Though Professor Winchester's life is one of devotion to his pro- 
fessional work, that devotion does not exclude but rather affiliates 
with the other "good things in life." He is a most sincere and active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is an 



144 CALEB THOMAS WINCHESTER 

independent voter, having been a Republican until 1884, when, with 
many others, he was unable to support Mr. Blaine. His favorite out- 
of-door recreation is bicycling, in which he has found benefit and 
pleasure for fifteen years. Professor Winchester is a great lover of 
home life and is a man of most domestic tastes. In April, 1880, he 
married Alice G. Smith. 

The love of the literary life grew gradually upon Caleb Winches- 
ter during his college days and determined for him a lifelong literary 
career. One has only to read or listen to his words to know that 
this love of literature is the dominating influence in his life and the 
cause of his great success. For the benefit of others he says : "Think 
less of your success and more of your work ; have some one line of work 
to which you can always give your best energies and some pleasant fad 
to unbend on; always spend less than you earn, but otherwise don't 
pay much attention to money ; marry a good woman and make a home, 
big or little, rich or poor matters not, but a home. If every one will 
do that, society is safe enough." 



HERBERT WILLIAM CONN 

CONN, HERBERT WILLIAM, Ph.D., biologist, educator, 
lecturer, author and practical bacteriologist, professor of biol- 
ogy at Wesleyan University, president and instigator of the 
Society of American Bacteriologists, founder of Agricultural Bacteri- 
ology, and one of the most eminent scientists of our day, was born in 
Fitchburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts, January 10th, 1859. He 
is descended from John Conn, who came from Ulster County, Ireland, 
to the United States in 1730 and, on his mother's side, from John 
Barrows, who settled in Salem in 1635. Professor Conn's father, 
Reuben Rice Conn, was a watchmaker and jeweler and a man of 
marked integrity of character. His mother was Harriet Elizabeth 
Conn, a woman of great moral and spiritual strength and influence. 
The boy Herbert Conn was rather weak and sickly and he was brought 
up in a small city with few duties to perform outside of his school 
work. He was an ardent student and showed a propensity for scientific 
research at a very early age. He attended a private school, Cushing 
Academy, Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and then entered Boston Uni- 
versity, where he received his A.B. degree in 1881 and his A.M. degree 
in 1883. He entered Johns Hopkins University in 1881, where he was 
granted the degree of Ph.D. in Biology in 1884. During his last year 
of study at Johns Hopkins he also taught in that university and he 
was acting director of the Johns Hopkins Summer Laboratory during 
the summer that followed. 

In 1884 Mr. Conn became instructor of biology in Wesleyan 
University, Middletown, Connecticut, and he became professor of biol- 
ogy in that university in 1887 and still holds the chair. He was biol- 
ogy instructor at Trinity College in 1889-1890; acting director of the 
department of zoology, Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute, in 1887; 
director of the Cold Springs Biological Laboratory 1890-1897; bacteri- 
ologist of Storrs School Experiment Station from the time it was 
founded until the present time and he has been lecturer on bacteriol- 
ogy at the Connecticut Agricultural College since 1901. He was the 



146 HERBERT WILLIAM CONN 

first to suggest and one of the chief organizers of the Society of 
American Bacteriologists, of which he was secretary for the first three 
years of its existence and of which he was president in 1903. He was 
the founder and has been for some time the chief exponent in America 
of the growing subject of Agricultural Bacteriology, which is to-day 
revolutionizing many agricultural methods and doing a work of the ut- 
most importance in promoting health and economy. Some of his 
most valuable, radical, and fruitful investigations have been those 
concerning bacteria in milk products, of which scientific study Pro- 
fessor Conn was the pioneer in America. In 1905 he was made State 
Bacteriologist of Connecticut and director of the State Bacteriological 
Laboratory that was organized under his supervision. He has pub- 
lished about one hundred and fifty scientific papers upon this and 
kindred subjects, which have brought about definite and practical 
results. He was the first to prove that typhoid fever is distributed by 
oysters, doing so by investigations of an epidemic at Wesleyan. He 
is the author of "Evolution of To-day," published in 1886; "The 
Living World," 1891; "The Method of Evolution," 1900; "The 
SXoTj of G^rm Life," 1897; "The Story of the Living Machine," 
1899; "Agricultural Bacteriology," 1901; "Bacteria in Milk and 
Its Products," 1902; "Bacteria Yeasts and Molds in the Home," 
1903; "Elementary Physiology and Hygiene," and "Nociones de 
Microbiologic," and also a series of widely used school text- 
books on Physiology. Several of these books have been trans- 
lated into Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian. In these books his 
treatment of his subjects is masterful, thorough, and modern, avoiding 
all unnecessary detail and aiming at a resume of salient points and a 
solution of practical problems. He writes clearly with no trace of 
pedantry and with apt and illuminating illustrations. He believes 
that the study of evolution is in a transition period and that the 
rising generation of students will study it from a new view point, and 
writes with so scientific and scholarly a caution that it is almost 
prophetic, and it is safe to say that his books will have true value in 
the coming as well as in the present generation. As a specialist on 
the bacteriology of dairy products Professor Conn has performed some 
very important and advanced experiments with most beneficial results. 
He spent three years in searching for a species of bacteria which the 
butter-maker might inoculate into his cream to insure a uniformly 



HEEBERT WILLIAM CONN 147 

pure product and the adequate organism was obtained in 1893, and has 
been used with the most satisfying results in creameries all over the 
country. By the inoculation of "Bacillus No. 41" the growth of 
injurious bacteria is checked and cream and butter are given their 
own desirable flavor. 

Professor Conn's able, thorough, and progressive work in scientific 
research has placed him among the foremost biologists of to-day. His 
recognized importance in scientific circles is due to his careful and 
fruitful experiments, his clear and authentic writings and lectures 
and his ability as an educator. In the advice he offers others we may 
discover the fundamental reasons of his own great success, for he 
says, "Aim to discover essentials and distinguish them from unim- 
portant details. Place the emphasis of endeavor upon the essentials 
that count and don't waste energies in too much attention to unim- 
portaut minutiffi." He has truly bent all of his energies to the pur- 
suit of the branch of science that is his life work and, except for a 
constant interest in the Methodist Church to which he belongs, con- 
scientious casting of his political vote, usually for the Eepublican 
party, and membership in his college fraternity Beta Theta Pi, he has 
no social connections. For relaxation he enjoys bicycling and moun- 
tain climbing, and, when tired, light fiction. In August, 1885, Pro- 
fessor Conn married Julia M. Joel, by whom he has had two children. 
Their home is in Middletown, the seat of his professional duties. 



ABIRAM CHAMBERLAIN 

CHAMBERLAIN, ABIRAM, former governor of Connecticut 
and a prominent banker in New England, was born in the 
town of Colebrook, Litchfield County, Connecticut, December 
7th, 1837. His ancestors on both sides were of the oldest and purest 
New England stock, one of the oldest on his father's side being Jacob 
Chamberlain, who was born in Newton (now Cambridge), Massa- 
chusetts, in 1673. On his mother's side Mr. Chamberlain is descended 
from Henry and Eulalia Burt. Mr. Chamberlain's father was Deacon 
Abiram Chamberlain, a most skillful and experienced civil engineer 
and surveyor. He was a man of great uprightness and stability of 
character, and was widely known for his attractive personality. Mr. 
Chamberlain's mother was Sophronia Euth Burt. 

After receiving a public school education, Mr. Chamberlain 
studied at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he 
made a special study of civil engineering, his father's calling. In 
1856 the family moved to New Britain, where Mr. Chamberlain 
learned the trade of rule making and practiced civil engineering with 
his father. He soon abandoned this course to become a teller in the 
New Britain National Bank and this step was the turning point of his 
career, for Mr. Chamberlain was destined to be identified from that 
time on with finance instead of engineering. In 1867 he moved to 
Meriden and became cashier of the Home National Bank. In 1881 he 
became president of that bank, which position he still holds. 

Though few men have had more thorough experience in banking 
than Mr. Chamberlain, he has found time for many other interests, as 
his many public offices have shown. He was at one time city auditor 
and a member of the City Government and has represented his town 
in the State Legislature. In 1901 and 1903 he was state comptroller 
and in September, 1902, he was nominated for governor of the State 
of Connecticut and elected by a large majority. From the time his 
first address won public applause, he was in high favor, not only be- 
cause of his dignity and executive ability, but for his kindness and 



ABIRAM CHAMBERLAIN 151 

geniality. Soon after his election the Waterbury Trolley Strike 
occurred and the decision and mastery with which Governor Chamber- 
lain quelled the disturbance proved him thoroughly worthy of his 
great trust. 

Mr. Chamberlain has always been a promoter of everything pos- 
sible for the welfare of Meriden and he is actively interested in many 
of its leading institutions. He is vice-president of the Meriden 
Savings Bank, director in the Meriden Hospital, Meriden Cutlery 
Company, in the Edward Miller & Company, also a director of the 
Stanley Works in New Britain. He is a member of the Home and 
Colonial clubs of Meriden, the Hartford Club, the Union League Club 
of New Haven, and the Metabetchouan Fishing and Game Club of 
Canada. Mr. Chamberlain has served five years in the State Militia 
and is fond of outdoor life, especially golf, baseball, and fishing. In 
politics he is a Eepublican and in religious affiliation a Congrega- 
tionalist. 

In 1872 Mr. Chamberlain was married to Charlotte E. Roberts. 
Two sons have been bom to them, both of whom are now living, Albert 
Roberts and Harold Burt. 

Mr. Chamberlain may be called a self-made man in the best sense 
of the word — in everything that he has undertaken, he has reached 
the top; although he has never sought political office, he has been 
honored with the governorship of the State. In the business of bank- 
ing he has attained to a position of importance and has been compli- 
mented by being elected president of the Connecticut Bankers' 
Association, and a vice-president, representing the State of Connecti- 
cut, in the American Bankers' Association. Perhaps the best tribute 
to his mental capability was the honorary degree of LL.D. conferred 
upon him by Wesleyan University, in 1903. 



GEOEGE PAYNE MCLEAN 

MCLEAN, GEOEGE PAYNE, one of the ablest and most 
popular of the former governors of Connecticut, was born 
in Simsbury, Hartford County, Conn., October 7th, 1857. 
From Colonial days his forefathers have been counted among the 
leading men of Simsbury, and he has always resided in that town, ex- 
cept when he was compelled to move to Hartford to attend the High 
School. His father, Dudley B. McLean, is remembered as a pros- 
perous and influential farmer and as the son of the Eev. Allen 
McLean, who was for fifty years the pastor of the Simsbury Con- 
gregational Church. His mother, Mary Payne, was a daughter of 
Solomon Payne, one of the leading men in Windham County, and 
a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford and Captain John 
Mason. 

Like so many of Connecticut's foremost sons. Governor McLean 
spent his early days as a sturdy country boy, working on his father's 
farm during the busy summer months and attending school during 
the winter. To this wholesome life and especially to the careful 
teachings and high example of his father and mother can doubt- 
less be traced all the strong and admirable physical, mental, and 
moral characteristics of the former governor. In looking back over 
his successful career he gratefully acknowledges his moral and spir- 
itual debt to his mother. After acquiring all the advantages offered 
by the public schools of Simsbury he went to Hartford to attend 
the High School. This was to be the end of his school education 
and he took full advantage of his opportunity. In his junior year 
he received the distinction of being chosen editor of the school paper. 
He was graduated in 1877. 

Having received his High School diploma, he started out in 
his twentieth year to earn his own livelihood. It was doubtless his 
experience on the school paper which turned his immediate thoughts 
to journalism. He became a reporter on the Hartford Post at a 
salary of $7 a week. Journalism is an enticing career, but many 




.a^ 
'^^ 






C 




GEORGE PAYNE MCLEAN 155 

school editors change their opinion of it after they become real 
reporters. This may have been the case with Governor McLean, for 
he did not find the occupation to his taste. However, he stuck to 
it with his usual perseverance, did good work, and during two years 
made himself more and more valuable to his paper. The experience 
he gained here broadened his knowledge of men and affairs and has 
no doubt been helpful to him in later life. Having determined to 
join the legal profession, he left the Hartford Post and entered the 
law office of the late Henry C. Robinson at Hartford. While a stu- 
dent here he supported himself by keeping books for Trinity Col- 
lege. In this manner he earned $300, which was then sufficient for 
the modest wants of the future governor. He studied his law books 
with understanding and enthusiasm and in 1881 he was admitted 
to the bar in Hartford. 

Having acquired a good groundwork in the law he started to 
practice for himself in the office of Mr. Robinson, going each evening 
to his home in Simsbury. He made immediate and rapid progress 
in his profession and it soon became evident that he was learned in 
the law, of a judicial temperament and an able trial lawyer, a for- 
tunate combination of qualities, but one seldom found in individual 
lawyers, yet always a guarantee of success. As he prospered in his 
profession, so he grew in influence in the political world. In 1883, 
two years after he was admitted to the bar and but six years after 
he left the High School, he was chosen by the Republicans of his 
district to represent the town of Simsbury in the State House of 
Representatives. His career in the legislature was active from the 
start, and he soon won for himself a place of prominence in the 
General Assembly. As chairman of the committee on state's prisons 
he prepared a bill which created the present Board of Pardons, 
Formerly any inmate of the state's prisons who applied for a pardon 
was required to submit his petition to the General Assembly, a slow 
and cumbersome method, which took up the time of the State Legis- 
lature which should have been devoted to matters of more general 
interest. Mr. McLean's bill brought about a radical and progressive 
change, by providing for a board to consist of the Governor, ex officio, 
the Chief Justice and other members of the bench, a representative of 
the medical profession, and other citizens. He not only prepared the 



156 GEORGE PAYNE MCLEAN 

bill, but also saw that it passed the General Assembly at once. This 
substantial public service was rendered by him in 1884, only one year 
after he had become a member of the assembly. He was made clerk 
of the Board of Pardons, a position which he held until he became 
Governor of the State. 

In 1885 Governor Harrison appointed Mr. McLean a member 
of the commission to revise the statute laws of the State. His asso- 
ciates on this commission were Judge Hovey, Judge Fenn, and Judge 
Walsh, and although it was but four years after he was admitted to 
the Bar, he was of valuable assistance to the other commissioners. 
Subsequent events proved how well they accomplished the delicate 
and difficult task of revising the state's laws. The same year of his 
appointment on this important committee he was urged to take the 
Kcpublican nomination for state senator from the Third District. 
He was elected by a large majority and took his seat in 1886. In 
the Senate, as in the House of Representatives, his ability as an 
orator, parliamentarian, and politician soon manifested itself and 
made him one of the leaders of the majority. In the presidential 
campaign of 1888 he did effective work for the national ticket, mak- 
ing speeches to appreciative audiences throughout the State, and it 
was in no small degree due to his efforts that Connecticut gave such 
a large majority to President Harrison. In 1890 he was a candi- 
date for Secretary of State, but this was the year of the famous 
"deadlock," and he was not elected. But Mr. McLean was by this 
time one of the recognized public men of the State and this slight 
check did not hinder him in his rapid advancement. In 1892, and 
on the advice of the entire Congressional delegation from Connecti- 
cut, President Harrison appointed him United States Attorney. 
During the four years which he held this position he won for the 
government every criminal case and lost but one civil case. At the 
same time he acted as counsel for the State Comptroller and the 
State Treasurer. When in 1893 the corporation of Yale University 
brought an action against the State Treasurer to enjoin him from 
paying to Storrs' Agricultural College any part of the funds acquired 
by the state under certain Congressional enactments, Mr. McLean 
represented the state and defeated the corporation. Eleven years 
later Yale University conferred upon the successful attorney, who 
had in the meantime become an ex-governor, the honorary degree of 



GEOEGE PAYNE MCLEAN" 157 

M.A. This is the most recent honor bestowed upon Governor Mc- 
Lean and it is significant for two reasons. It shows how a man, 
whose school training ends with a High School diploma, may 
through useful activity in life receive scholastic distinction from one 
of the first universities of the country; and it shows furthermore 
the impartial manner in which a great and broad institution of 
learning will confer deserved recognition even upon one who opposes 
it in a matter of importance. 

In 1900 the Kepublican State Convention, which met in New 
Haven on September 5th, nominated George Payne McLean for Gov- 
ernor. When informed of his nomination he entered the convention 
and thanked his supporters in a short speech which is remembered 
as a model of tact, sincerity, and oratorical effect. "It is un- 
necessary for me to say," he declared, "that if elected, I shall be 
elected without pledge or promise to any man save the one I shall 
make to every citizen of Connecticut, without regard to party, when 
I take the oath of office. It is unnecessary for me to say that my 
sole hope and effort will be to keep unspotted before God and man 
the bright shield of the State I love." To his hearers these eloquent 
words had the ring of sincerity, and time has shown that during the 
two years he was chief executive of the State he never forgot the 
promises he here made. 

After receiving the nomination the Governor-to-be threw all his 
enthusiasm into the campaign. He addressed large audiences 
throughout the entire State. His speeches were eloquent, but more 
than that. He delivered them with tact; he gave his listeners facts 
and he presented them with all the skill of an able and well-trained 
lawyer. During recent years a candidate's personality has had a 
great effect upon the voters. Mr. McLean's was all in his favor. 
He went among the people and they did not fail to notice his sin- 
cerity, his frankness, his amiable disposition, and his pleasing per- 
sonality. When the ballots were counted there were 95,832 for 
McLean and 81,421 for Judge Bronson, his Democratic rival. He 
was inaugurated Governor on Wednesday, January 5th, 1901, and held 
office for two years. Regarding his record as Governor of the Com- 
monwealth it suffices to say that he fulfilled his ante-election prom- 
ises and more than justified the expectations of his friends and sup- 
porters. He has shown himself to be an able and reliable man, of 



158 GEORGE PAYNE MCLEAN 

sterling character and amiable disposition, and what is always popular 
with men in high position, approachable to every one. 

Although there are doubtless many chapters still to be written, 
the story of ex-Governor McLean's life already serves as an inspira- 
tion for younger men and as a source of pleasure to those beyond him 
in years. In his case, application plus natural ability have made 
success. 




CSyTlUn^^x^^^^y^^^ ^^^^ 



OWEN VINCENT COFFIN 

COFFIN", HON. OWEN VINCENT, ex-governor of Con- 
necticut, president of the Middlesex Mutual (Fire) Assur- 
ance Company of Middletown, Connecticut, was born in 
Union Vale, Dutchess County, New York, June 20th, 1836. His 
first ancestors in America were Tristram and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, 
who came from England to Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1642, Tris- 
tram Coffin later becoming the chief magistrate of Nantucket. His 
father was Alexander Hamilton Coffin, a farmer by occupation. 

The usual interests and tasks of life on a farm filled the days of 
Mr. Coffin's boyhood. Farming, reading, and school took most of 
his time. He was, and remains, very fond of music. His favorite 
study was natural philosophy, which he began to study at school at 
the age of nine. He inclined to very general reading, with a particu- 
lar interest in history and with Cowper as his favorite poet. His 
education was acquired at the Cortland Academy, Homer, New 
York, and at the Charlottesville (New York) Seminary. At seven- 
teen he went to New York to be a salesman for a mercantile house, and 
two years later, in 1855, he became the New York representative of 
a prominent Connecticut manufacturing firm. In 1858, Mr. Coffin 
married Ellen Elizabeth Coe of Middletown, Connecticut, by whom 
he has had two children, a daughter and a son. The latter, Seward 
Vincent Coffin, is the only one now living, and is connected with 
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. When the Civil 
War broke out, Mr. Coffin was a strong supporter of the Union cause, 
though he was physically debarred from active service; but he fur- 
nished a substitute, though not required to do so. He was president 
two terms of the Brooklyn, New York, Y. M. C. A., which aided 
largely during the period of the War in valuable field hospital work, 
and he was also active in the same work in connection with his 
membership of the New York Committee of the United States 
Christian Commission. 
In 1864 Mr. Coffin moved to Middletown, where he has since made 



162 OWEN VINCENT COFFIN 

his home. During his residence in Connecticut he has been connected 
as president, secretary, treasurer, and director with banking, rail- 
road, fire insurance, manufacturing, and other business corporations. 
Since 1884 he has been president of the Middlesex Mutual (Fire) 
Assurance Company. From 1865 to 1878, when he suffered a serious 
breakdown in health, he was secretary and treasurer of the Farmers 
and Mechanics Savings Bank of Middletown during the most im- 
portant period and most rapid growth of that bank and he held the 
same offices and that of director for several years in the old Air Line 
Eailroad Company. He has been for years and remains a 
director of the reorganized Boston & New York Air Line Eailroad 
Company. In politics he has always been a Republican, but per- 
sonally decidedly averse to standing for any public office, then, or 
later for other positions, until his candidacy for governor seemed 
to come in sight. From 1872 to 1874 he was mayor of Middle- 
town. He was tendered a renomination by leading men of both 
parties and assured of unanimous reelection, but felt obliged by 
other engagements to decline. In 1887 and 1889 he served as State 
senator two terms, and was urged to accept the unanimous nomina- 
tion when tendered for a third term, but pressure of business duties 
led him to decline. In 1894 he was nominated for governor. His 
popularity with the people carried him through, thousands of Demo- 
crats voting for him, and he was elected governor of Connecticut 
by the greatest majority recorded up to that time, a fact considered 
prophetic of his successful career as the chief magistrate of the State. 
Mr. Coffin has been as prominent in ecclesiastical, intellectual, 
and social affairs as he has been in those of state and business. In 
church classification he is a Congregationalist. He was a member 
of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York, for many years, and 
after coming to Connecticut to reside joined the old First Church 
of Middletown, in which he retains membership. He was first 
assistant moderator of the Triennial International Congregational 
Council in Portland, Oregon, in 1898; superintendent of Sunday 
schools in Brookl}Ti and in Middletown for many years; moderator 
of the Congregational Council of Connecticut one term, and president 
of the Middletown Y. M. C. A., the Middletown Choral Society, and 
many other public or semi-public organizations. Though not a col- 
lege man Mr. Coffin has had the honorary degree of LL.D. conferred 



OWEN VINCENT COFFIN 163 

upon him by Wesleyan University and is an honorary member of 
the college fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon. Aside from this 
Greek letter society he is not connected with any secret organization. 
He is a member of the old local literary society called the Conver- 
sational Club. The sports he most enjoys are shooting and fishing. 
He was for years president of the Middletown Rifle Association and 
he was vice-president of the Connecticut Rifle Association during 
the presidency of the late General Hawley. He is interested in 
athletics and considers regular outdoor exercise invaluable for people 
of sedentary occupations. 



THOMAS M. WALLER 

THE HON". THOMAS M. WALLER of New London, beginning 
life as a New York newsboy and rising to many positions 
of public preferment, including those of governor of his 
State and of consul general to London, has had a career that fasci- 
nates by its romance and convinces by its success. 

"Governor Tom Waller," as he is still familiarly and affectionately 
called, was born in New York City in 1840, of Irish parentage. His 
father, Thomas C. Armstrong, his mother, Mary Armstrong, and his 
only brother, William, died before he was eight years old, leaving him 
entirely alone and unassisted to face the world. Sufficient courage 
to bring him success could not have developed so quickly without his 
having inherited a good-sized germ of it; inheritance and develop- 
ment together produced an asset which dwellers in the sumptuous 
houses of the metropolis might have envied at that very moment 
when he was an orphan in the streets. And if ever he deserved the 
title of "Little Giant," later bestowed upon him, it was then. 

With pennies given him by a stranger, the boy bought a few 
papers and started upon his career, soon doubling his capital and 
putting aside a fair percentage. But there were broader fields for 
him. Without realizing how broad, his boyish fancy began to pic- 
ture them till, after one summer as a newsboy, restlessness aroused his 
spirit of adventure. It was in the days of the gold fever of '49. We 
cannot dismiss this newsboy period, however, without enjoying one 
glimpse of it which he himself gives, with a quotation which at the 
same time will illustrate that native wit which on many occasions 
has served as a sesame for him. The quotation is from a speech 
delivered not many years ago in Brooklyn. "The papers I was sell- 
ing on the streets of New York," he said, "were so filled with accounts 
of mountains of gold that I thought gold would not be Vorth a cent,' 
and with this apprehension, instead of going west with the star of 
empire, I went to Connecticut. I went there as to a reformatory 
school, thinking that when I was good enough I would return to New 




o^^^tLt,^^.^^ '^^i ^/e5Lj2^^_5L.^ 



THOMAS M. WALLER 167 

York and become a New York politician. I have stayed tliero a 
good while. I have returned to New York, bnt only to do business^ 
not to be a politician. 1 have had some temptation to step into the 
political waters here, but 1 have resisted it. I am satisfied tbat a 
larger probation is necessary. I am not good enough yet."' 

His next step after being a "newsy" was to become a cabin boy in 
a fishing vessel sailing from New York. Speak of it as he will now, 
it was almost impossible that he should not be cauglit in the str<mg 
current toward California. He had gone so far as to make his plans 
to sail i]i a schooner for the Golden Gate, when he came under the 
notice of Eobert K. Waller of New London. Mr. Waller was of a 
benevolent disposition and his farsightedness was to be tested. Dis- 
cerning the boy's capabilities, he offered him a home and education, 
and the boy had sense enough to prefer them to the glittering allure- 
ments of the gold fields. He adopted him into his family and gave 
him the name to which he was to bring honor. The little fellow, 
who had picked up some schooling at odd moments in New York, 
was put into the New London schools, wiiere he made rapid progress 
and entered the Bartlett Grammar School of which E. B. Jennings 
was the master. There he was graduated with high honors in a class 
which included several who were to become prominent in life, and 
there he began to develop those oratorical powers which later were to 
enable him to hold large audiences spellbound. He took the first 
prize in oratory at the school, at the age of seventeen, and has taken 
it in the forum, at the Bar, and in the convention hall many times 
since. 

His inclination was toward the law. After a due course of study, 
he was admitted to the Bar and soon had established a lucrative 
practice. His power to move a jury was particularly wonderful. 
With the coming of the Civil War, his warm heart and good red 
blood compelled him to throw aside his law books and enlist. He 
was appointed sergeant in Company E of the Second Connecticut 
Volunteers April 22nd, 1861, but being incapacitated by a serious dis- 
ease of the eyes he was discharged on June 27th. Thwarted in this 
direction, he forthwith proceeded to employ his talents as a speaker 
in aiding the recruiting of other regiments in his own and other 
states. It was then, in this worthy cause, that he first gained fame 
as a public speaker. 



168 THOMAS M^ WALLER 

In 1867 and again in 1868, lie was chosen representative from 
New London to the General Assenlbh^ One of his most notable 
efforts of this period was his argument in behalf of a bridge across 
the Connecticut River at Saybrook. Senator W. W. Eaton, the "War 
Horse" of Hartford, was the leader of the opposition, which saw 
in the plan nothing but irremediable injur}^ to commercial interests 
along the river, "God's highway." To-day when a wooden bridge 
has been succeeded by an iron one and that in turn is being succeeded 
by one still greater, to meet the growing requirements, it is difficult to 
recall or conceive the amount of excitement which the bridge project 
aroused and consequently the reason for the tremendous rejoicing by 
its advocates when the resolution was adopted. The point of Mr. 
Waller's argument was, "You can't resist the nineteenth century." 

In 1870 Mr. Waller was elected Secretary of the State on the 
Democratic ticket, a position which did not interfere with his law 
practice. In 1876 he was sent to the House again and was the choice 
for speaker. The commendable shortness of that session was ascribed 
largely to his proficiency. After the close of the session he was 
appointed by the judges state's attorney for New London County. 
It fell to his lot to have to conduct some of the most remarkable cases 
known to Connecticut jurisprudence. Whatever the cases were, it 
might be said, he made them interesting. One of them was outside 
his county — over in New Haven County, where State's Attorney 
Tilton E. Doolittle was disqualified because of professional relations 
with the accused. It was the Hayden murder trial, where the State 
introduced expert testimony on a more comprehensive plan than had 
been known up to that time. One juror by preventing a conviction 
made his name celebrated. 

Mr. Waller, as mayor of New London for a period of six years, 
gave that city a sharp, strenuous administration, so much so indeed 
that at one time there was a mass meeting to censure him for ener- 
getic efforts to work improvements. However, at that meeting he 
was permitted to speak in his own defense. The meeting adjourned 
without action and at the next election the people continued the 
reformer in office. 

In 1882, while still state's attorney, he was nominated at the 
State Democratic Convention for governor. With his brilliant cam- 
paign oratory supplementing his record, he won a splendid victory. 



THOMAS M. WALLER 169 

Those who had professed to fear a whirlwind administration were 
happily disappointed in the dignity and conservativeness of it, in 
good keeping with those of Puritanical predecessors. At the next 
convention he was renominated unanimously by acclamation. It was 
the year of Cleveland's first presidential campaign. Waller's name 
was like a watchword, and "Our Tom" received even a larger vote 
than did Cleveland, who carried the State. By the peculiarity of the 
old Connecticut law, however, he failed of election because he did not 
have a majority over all, and a Eepublican General Assembly chose 
his Eepublican competitor, the Hon. Henry B. Harrison of New 
Haven. 

In the National Democratic Convention which chose Mr. Cleve- 
land, the "Little Giant" from Connecticut had made a speech which 
was notable for its eloquence and power. On Mr. Cleveland's acces- 
sion to office, he gave Mr. Waller the very responsible and lucrative 
appointment of consul general to London, England. In that office 
the late governor made still another record for himself, and for his 
country as well. His achievements on several occasions elicited words 
of high praise from the State department at Washington. At the 
close of his four years' service, a banquet was tendered him by Eng- 
lishmen and Americans, including the United States officials in 
England, and a massive silver loving-cup was presented to him in 
appreciation of what he had done. 

On his return to America, he resumed the practice of law, the 
firm of Waller, Cook & Wagner being established at No. 15 Wall 
Street. "I work five days a week in New York that I may live two 
in Connecticut," he once remarked. His name has been mentioned 
since his retirement to private life as a worthy one for the vice- 
presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket and again 
for governor, but he practically has abstained from politics. He had 
ro sympathy whatever with the free-silver movement. Governor 
Morgan G. Bulkeley appointed him on the conmaission for the World's 
Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 and he was chosen first 
vice-president of that body, in which capacity he frequently had to 
preside in place of President Palmer, and his zeal had much to do 
in making it the crowning exposition of the world up to that time. 
His last public service was as delegate from his town to the Con- 
stitutional Convention in 1903, where his voice ever was uplifted in 



170 THOMAS M, WALLER 

the interests of reform and fair representation for the people. The 
document as indorsed by that non-partisan body bears the impress of 
his ideas in many places. That the reforms failed of approval by 
the Legislature was a disappointment to him. 

Mr. Waller married Miss Charlotte Bishop of New London and has 
a family of one daughter, the wife of Professor William E. Appleby 
of the University of Minnesota, and five sons, Tracey, Martin B., 
Eobert K., Charles B., and John M., all of whom, excepting John, 
who is a senior in Amherst College, are members of the Bar. The 
ex-governor spends a good share of his time now at his beautiful 
home in New London, but seclusion is impossible for one with pro- 
nounced ideas on affairs of public moment or for one whose opinion 
party leaders and the public generally are desirous to learn. 

Since the above was written, the Hartford Courant, alluding to 
Governor Wallers appearance and speech as the president of the 
Democratic State Convention of September, 1906, editorially said : — 

"Whoever heard Governor Waller's rattling speech at yesterday's 
Democratic Convention will be ready to aver that he is not a day 
over thirty years of age, no matter when he was born. It was com- 
mon talk about the convention that he was asked to speak only as 
be was going to bed the night before. It was essentially and neces- 
sarily an impromptu address, but it was full of fire, sparkling with 
quick wit, eloquent, and at times very right. Somebody said it was 
'the old Tom Waller,' Utterly wrong ; it was the young Tom Waller, — 
who, in our opinion, will be young as long as he lives. 

"Governor Waller never made a better off-hand speech than that 
of yesterday. He was never younger than he was yesterday. We 
look confidently to his appearance in, say, fifteen years, as a new boy 
orator; and we venture the safe prediction that the people will hear 
him gladly." 




syd^rr^^ <^ ^^W-^^^j^^^/C^v^^ 



GEORGE EDWARD LOUNSBURY 

LOUNSBUEY, GEOEGE EDWAED, the late ex-governor of 
Connecticut, State senator, manufacturer and scholar, who 
lived in Eidgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from early- 
boyhood until his death which occurred August 16th, 1904, was born 
in Poundridge, Westchester county, New York, May 7th, 1838, His 
parents were Nathan Lounsbury, a farmer, and Delia Scofield Louns- 
bury, and his first American ancestor was Eichard Lounsbury, 
who came from Yorkshire, England, about 1650 and settled in Stam- 
ford, Connecticut. Mr. Lounsbur/s grandfather, Enos Lounsbury, 
was a soldier in the Eevolutionary War. When he was a very young 
boy George Lounsbury went to Eidgefield to live and that town was 
his home during the rest of his life. He was a youth of marked 
literary tastes and ability and naturally sought the highest education. 
After a course at the Eidgefield Academy he entered Yale College, 
where he was graduated with the class of 1863. Intending to be a 
Protestant Episcopal minister he then entered Bergely Divinity 
School at Middletown, Connecticut, and was graduated from that 
institution in 1866. He began his ministry as rector of the Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church at Suffield, but a chronic throat affliction made 
it impossible for him to continue in the ministry. 

Upon leaving the ministry Mr. Lounsbury entered into partner- 
ship with his brother in the shoe manufacturing business under the 
firm name of Lounsbury Brothers. He continued in that business 
during his whole subsequent life, though he had many outside busi- 
ness interests which were uniformly successful. Mr. Lounsbury's 
executive ability and loyal service to the Eepublican party could not 
but receive definite appreciation and, in 1894, he was elected State 
senator from the twelfth district by an unprecedented majority. In 
1895 he was chairman of the committee on finance, in 1896 he was 
elected senator for a second term, and in 1897 became chairman of 
the committee on humane institutions. In 1898 he was elected 
governor of Connecticut and filled that office with the utmost tact and 
more that the ordinary ability. 



174 GEOEGE EDWAED LODNSBUEY 

George Edward Lounsbury was a man of great strength of char- 
acter and remarkable mental grasp, an unusually clever writer, whose 
diction was exceptionally clear and at times classical. He was a keen 
discerner of men and measures; reticent in disposition and of few 
words, he was nevertheless approachable to all. His reticence was 
no indication of indifference, for no man had a livelier interest in 
public affairs or a more genuine sympathy with his fellow men. In 
his own neighborhood, nothing so thoroughly characterized him as the 
breadth and extent of his charities and benefactions. As the chief 
executive of the State, his addresses were admirable for their clearness 
and directness, and in their literary quality to no small degree 
reflected the thorough training of his earlier years. Wesleyan Uni- 
versity bestowed upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. He was 
a man of quiet tastes and few club interests. His greatest enjoyment 
in recreation from the work of life was in hunting and fishing. Mrs. 
Lounsbury was Mrs. Frances Josephine Whedon of Amherst, Massa- 
chusetts, whom he married in November, 1894. No children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Lounsbury. 



PHINEAS CHAPMAN LOUNSBURY 

LOUNSBUEY, PHINEAS CHAPMAN, ex-governor of Con- 
necticut, president of the Merchants' Exchange National Bank 
of New York, and consequently one of the leading financiers 
of that city, was born in Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, 
January 10th, 1844. He traces his ancestry to Richard Lounsbury, 
who came from Yorkshire, England, by way of Holland and settled 
in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1651. Mr. Lounsbury's father was 
Nathan Lounsbury, a farmer, who held various town offices in Ridge- 
field and was once a member of the House of Representatives. He 
was a man of strong convictions and of earnest Christian character, 
a man who was never afraid to express his views and to live up to 
them. Mr. Lounsbury's mother was Delia A. Scofield Lounsbury, and 
in her he had the blessing and influence of another strong character. 

Strong and vigorous and a typical New England farmer's boy, 
Mr. Lounsbur}' spent his boyhood days in healthy activity, the best 
possible foundation for his future busy career. Although he was 
obliged to perform farm labor of all kinds he was an eager student 
and found time for fruitful and extensive reading. The Bible was 
the chief literature in the Lounsbury household. Next to that Mr. 
Lounsbury delighted in works on mathematics, oratory, and public 
debating, all prophetic of his future career as a financier and a 
politician. He secured a thorough academic education at the district 
schools and academy at Ridgefield, after which he became interested 
in the wholesale shoe business in New York, where he studied the 
business thoroughly and made himself familiar with all its depart- 
ments, and soon organized the firm of Lounsbury Brothers, shoe 
manufacturers at New Haven, which later moved to South Norwalk 
and became Lounsbury, Mathewson & Company. 

When the Civil War broke out Mr. Lounsbury enlisted as a 
private in the 17th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, and served 
until sickness necessitated his honorable discharge. After the War 
he settled down to business life, but his patriotic zeal had been 
quickened and his eloquence as a public speaker had proved him 
a leader of men. In 1874 he was elected representative from 
Ridgefield, and his experience and reputation as a public speaker 
were greatly added to by his speeches on behalf of temperance. He 



178 PHINEAS CHAPMAN LOUNSBURT 

was one of the foremost speakers during the Blaine campaign in 
1884. In 1885 he was unanimously elected president of the Mer- 
chants' Exchange National Bank of New York, a position which 
his integrity and business tact so well deserved. In addition to this 
high position Mr. Lounsbury is a trustee of the American Bank 
Note Company, president of the Preferred Accident Insurance Com- 
pany, vice-president of the Washington Trust Company, a director 
in the Worcester Salt Company, and a trustee of Wesleyan University, 
which institution has conferred upon him the honorary degree of 
LL.D. 

In 1887 and 1888 Mr. Lounsbury was governor of the State 
of Connecticut, and the fair-minded, capable, and honorable way 
in which he took the helm won him the greatest respect and 
admiration. His championship of the questions of labor and tem- 
perance, and his influence in the passing of the Incorrigible Crim- 
nals' Act evinced both his high moral standards and his great 
executive ability, as well as his consistent Eepublicanism. 

A notable incident worthy of record is the fact that for the 
first time in the history of this country two brothers, Phineas and 
George Lounsbury, have been governors of the same state. 

In Mr. Lounsbury's private life there is also much of noteworthy 
interest. His early home life afforded a highly religious training, 
and the uplift of the good Puritan doctrines inculcated then has 
borne fruit throughout his later life. Mr. Lounsbury is a devoted 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was, in 1888, lay 
delegate to the General Conference of that body. Socially he is a 
member of the Union League Club, of the Republican Club of 
New York, of the Hardware Club, and of the New England Society. 
His favorite sport is fishing "every time." In 1867 Mr. Lounsbury 
married Jane Wright. They have had no children. Their home is in 
Eidgefield, where Mr. Lounsbury spends much of his time, in spite 
of his many business ties in New York. 

For the benefit of those who seek a practical ideal to shape their 
lives along successful lines Mr. Lounsbury gives the following sig- 
nificant advice: "Imbibe and practice Christian ideas, preach and 
practice purity in politics, be kind and considerate in your treat- 
ment of others. Honor your father and mother. Be just, have 
mercy and observe the Golden Rule. Remember that it is not 
money but character that makes men." 







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FREDERICK JOHN KINGSBURY 

KINGSBUEY, FEEDERICK JOHN, LL.D.,a successful banker 
of Waterbury, was born in that city on the first day of Janu- 
ary, 1823. He comes of an old and distinguished New Eng- 
land family. Henry Kingsbury, his first American ancestor, came 
to this country from Assington in Suffolk County, England, with 
Governor John Winthrop, and was one of the founders of Ipswich, 
Massachusetts. Later he settled in Haverhill, where he became one 
of the influential citizens of the town. Henry Kingsbury's son and 
grandson, each named Joseph, left Haverhill in 1707, coming to Nor- 
wich, where they took an active and prominent part in town, church, 
and military affairs. Mr. Kingsbury's father was Charles Denison 
Kingsbury, a prosperous merchant and farmer, who held the offices of 
town treasurer, selectman, and member of the school board. He was 
a large landowner and is remembered as a quiet gentleman of refined 
manners and of strong intellect. 

The early days of Frederick were passed in the town in which he 
was born. He was a quiet boy, had delicate health and suffered much 
from dyspepsia. He grew from childhood under the watchful care of 
his mother, who was his teacher for several years. She taught him to 
read and made his early lessons easy by teaching him childish poetry 
and many old rhymes and tales. In this manner he early acquired a 
fondness for books, a characteristic which he has retained through life. 
He was the favorite of both his grandfathers, who were professional 
men and taught him many things which have been useful to him in 
later life. After first playing at work with the men on his father's 
farm, he gradually learned to make himself really helpful, and before 
leaving home to go to college, he had become a practical farmer. Hav- 
ing learned his first lessons from his mother he was sent to Waterbury 
Academy, where, under the care of Seth Fuller, he was prepared for 
college. Like every Connecticut young man who is fortunate enough 
to have the opportunity, he went to Yale, where he was graduated with 
the class of 1846. He then studied law at the New Haven Law School, 



182 FREDERICK JOHN KINGSBURY 

where he received his first legal lessons under the guidance of Chief 
Justice William L. Storrs, and later he entered the office of the Hon. 
Charles G. Loring in Boston. After acquiring his preliminary legal 
knowledge, he began the practice of law in Waterbury. He was 
successful as a young lawyer, but after four years he gave up his grow- 
ing practice to engage in the banking business, an occupation which 
he has since continued. 

Mr. Kingsbury became a bank officer in 1850 and for the past 
half century he has been engaged in large financial, manufacturing, 
and railroad enterprises. He has steadily prospered and now holds an 
enviable position in the business world. He is president of the Citi- 
zens National Bank, and director of the Seovill Manufacturing Com- 
pany. During his long career he has been director in many corpora- 
tions, and secretary, treasurer, and president of railroad companies, 
steamboat companies, libraries, and hospitals. Although his business 
interests have made heavy demands upon his time he has always found 
opportunity to aid his fellow citizens, both as a holder of public office 
and as a private individual. 

When a young lawyer his integrity and ability soon attracted 
attention and he was chosen by his townsmen to represent Waterbury 
in the State House of Eepresentatives. This was in 1850, and it was 
while in the Legislature that Mr. Kingsbury first conceived the idea of 
starting a savings bank in his city. In 1850, 1858 and again in 1865 
he was reelected to the legislature, where, in order that the public 
might reap the advantage of his experience in the banking world, he 
was made chairman on the committee on banks. When in 1876 the 
great International Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia, 
Mr. Kingsbury was selected to represent Connecticut as member of the 
state committee. He was afterwards urged to accept the Eepublican 
nomination for governor of Connecticut. Owing to the pressure of 
business he was compelled to decline this high honor, but he consented 
to become the party's candidate for lieutenant-governor. As the 
Republican ticket was defeated, Mr. Kingsbury was not forced to 
leave private life. He has always remained true to his political party, 
but has never held any other political office. He has, however, made 
himself useful to the community as an active member of many clubs 
and societies, especially of those which have for their object the dis- 
semination of useful knowledge. For several years he was president of 
the American Social Science Association, of which he is still an active 



FREDEEICK JOHN KINGSBURY 183 

member. He is a member, also, of the Society of Colonial Wars, of 
the New Haven History Society, of the American Antiquarian Society, 
and of the American Historical Association. He was a member of the 
Corporation of Yale University from 1887 to 1899. 

Mr. Kingsbury has greatly enhanced his scholarly attainments 
by general reading, by careful study and by taking a live interest in 
intellectual pursuits. His efEorts have been recognized by the leading 
educational institutions of the country. In 1848 he received from 
Yale the degree of A.M. In 1892 the honorary degree of LL.D. was 
conferred upon him by Williams College, and in 1899 the same distinc- 
tion was given him by Yale University. Like most intellectual men, 
he finds pleasure in the companionship of educated people. He is a 
member of the Century Club, and of the University Clubs of New* 
York City and of New Haven. 

In 1851, shortly after beginning the practice of law, Mr. Kings- 
bury married Alathea Euth Seovill. He became the father of five 
children, three of whom are living. He is a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and his religion finds practical expression in his 
belief that every man should do his duty in whatever position in life 
it has pleased God to place him. It is this idea, supplemented by a 
modest ambition, which has made Frederick John Kingsbury work for 
success in life. In looking back over his long life he feels that he has 
done as well as he had any right to expect. He is now very fond of 
driving, but in his younger days horseback riding and walking were his 
favorite methods of relaxation from the usual cares of an active busi- 
ness life. 

A man who has passed the age of eighty, and the story of whose 
success in life contains not a single dark page, has a right, if not a 
duty, to give to the generations which are following him, the benefit 
of his advice. Mr. Kingsbury's words to younger men are : "Be honest 
in your purpose. Practice truthfulness, courtesy, and the cultivation 
of a kindly feeling toward all men. Be industrious and persevering. 
Neither court nor shun responsibility, but discharge all obligations to 
the best of your ability. Do the most honorable thing that offers and 
keep at it until something better comes. Beware of procrastination." 
These are the principles which he has followed and they have guided 
him to a high and honorable position among his fellow men. 



RALPH WILLIAM CUTLER 

CUTLER, RALPH WILLIAM, president of the Hartford 
Trust Company and one of the most able and prominent 
bankers in Connecticut, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, 
February 21st, 1853, of a long line of distinguished ancestors, the 
first of whom to settle in America was James Cutler, who came 
from England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1634. James Cutler 
was assigned twenty-eight acres of land in the "First Great Divide" 
and later moved to Lexington, where the cellar of his house is 
still to be seen. His son, James Cutler (second), served in King 
Philip's War and was the father of Thomas Cutler, who purchased 
in 1750 in Warren, Massachusetts, a farm of three hundred acres, 
which is in the family to-day. Deacon Thomas Cutler, son of 
Thomas Cutler, was prominent in the history of Warren, Massa- 
chusetts, and his son, Ebenezer Cutler, was a lieutenant in the 
Revolution, Eben Cutler, Mr. Ralph Cutler's father, was a jeweler in 
Boston and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representa- 
tives in 1865-6. He was a man of marked integrity, energy, and 
thrift. Mr. Cutler's mother, whose maiden name was Caroline 
Elizabeth Holman, was a descendant of Ensign John Holman, one 
of the original settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630, who 
came from England in the ship "Mary and John" and afterwards 
served as selectman, and as ensign in the Pequot War. He was a 
member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. 
Mr. Cutler is also able to trace his ancestry to Governor George Wyllys, 
Governor William Pynchon, Major William Whiting, Captain Daniel 
Clark, and the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, a pioneer settler of Ohio and 
the Western Reserve. 

Ralph Cutler's boyhood was spent in the city of Boston and he 
received his education at the English High School, where he was 
graduated at the age of sixteen as a "Franklin Medal scholar." He was 
strong and athletic and was brought up on the principle that what 
was worth doing at all was worth doing well and he believes that 



RALPH WILLIAM CUTLER 185 

his parents' confidence in his ability to succeed was the greatest 
inspiration of his life. He was as active mentally as he was physically 
and he has always enjoyed broad general reading as much as he has 
golf, tennis, rowing, and baseball, in which he has taken great 
interest and pleasure. 

The first work which Mr. Cutler entered upon after leaving 
school was in the wholesale grocery business in Boston and his few 
years' experience in mercantile life was valuable for the knowledge 
of men and of business methods which he gained thereby. In 1880, 
when Mr. Cutler was twenty-seven years old, he came to Hartford 
to become treasurer of the Hartford Trust Company, thus entering 
upon the banking career which he has pursued ever since. In 1887 
he was elected president of the company and became the youngest 
bank president in the State. He still holds this responsible position, 
for which his intimate knowledge of the details of banking, his clear 
judgment, and rare executive ability make him particularly well 
fitted. 

In public affairs Mr. Cutler is as active and as prominent as he 
is in banking affairs. He is a Eepublican in political affiliations and 
in 1883-4 he was a member of the Court of Common Council. He 
was appointed fire commissioner in 1896 and served two terms of 
three years each. In 1905 he was appointed commissioner of the 
Board of Finance under the amended charter of the city of Hartford, 
and he has been treasurer of the Connecticut Humane Society since 
its organization in 1880. He is a member of the Society of Colonial 
Wars, was Gentleman of the Council at the organization of that 
society in 1893 and is now its treasurer. He is a member of the 
Sons of the American Eevolution, of the Twentieth Century Club, of 
the Hartford Club and of the Eepublican Club of Hartford. His 
religious views connect him with the Congregational Church. 

On the sixth of January, 1880, Mr. Cutler was married to Grace 
Dennis, daughter of Eodney Dennis, a founder and former secre- 
tary of the Travelers Insurance Company. Three children, a son 
and two daughters, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cutler: Char- 
lotte Elizabeth Cutler, born March 2nd, 1883, married November 
22nd, 1905, to Joseph H. Woodward, Actuary of State of Connecti- 
cut; Ealph Dennis Cutler, born April 16th, 1885; Euth Holman 
Cutler, born October 2nd, 1886. 



ALFRED SPENCER, JR. 

SPENCER, ALFEED, JR., president of the ^tna National Bank 
of Hartford, was born in Suffield, Hartford County, Connecti- 
cut, on October 29th, 1851. He is the son of Alfred Spencer, 
a prosperous farmer, and Frances Caroline (Reid) Spencer. His 
ancestors were English. The first to come to America was Thomas 
Spencer, who settled in Hartford. 

Mr. Spencer spent the early days of his life on his father's farm. 
He was a sturdy youngster and performed the usual tasks expected 
of a country boy of his day. Early home influences had a great 
effect upon his later life. The influence of his mother on his moral 
and spiritual nature was very marked. Among other valuable les- 
sons he was taught that to work was honorable. His school train- 
ing was received at the Connecticut Literary Institution at Suffield 
and later at the Edward Place School at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 

When, in 1872, he started out to earn his own livelihood, a position 
in the First National Bank at Suffield seemed the most promising 
one which presented itself. He remained in this bank for nearly 
twenty years, becoming first bookkeeper and then cashier. In 1891 
he moved to Hartford and became cashier in the ^tna National 
Bank. After being cashier for eight years he, in 1899, became presi- 
dent of the bank, a position which he still holds. 

In 1879 Mr. Spencer was married to Ella Susan Nichols. They 
have had two children, both of whom are living. In politics Mr. 
Spencer is a Republican, but, although he takes an interest in party 
affairs, he has never held public office. He attends the Baptist 
Church, he is prominent in the Masonic Order and is a noble of the 
Order of the Mystic Shrine. His favorite form of amusement is out- 
door sports of all kinds. His entire life has been devoted to the 
banking business and his success in this line is the result of natural 
aptitude and persistent effort. He made but one change in his 
business career. After he became cashier of the bank, which he 
entered as a messenger, he moved to a larger city to accept a similar 



ALFRED SPENCER, JR. Jgy 

position in a larger institution. The story of his career should 
encourage younger men to have patience and persist in their present 
occupation, remembering how Mr. Spencer rose from messenger boy 
to bank president with but one change in his business connections. 



WILLIAM DENISON MORGAN 

MORGAN, WILLIAM DENISON", was born in Brooklyn, 
New York, December 19th, 1873. His father, William 
Gardner Morgan, is a descendant of James Morgan, of Wales, 
who settled in New London, Connecticut, when the city was only a 
hamlet, — a few families gathered together for mutual help and pro- 
tection. His mother, Elizabeth Cook (Hall) Morgan, is a woman of 
strong though gentle character, and her example was an important 
influence in her son's spiritual and moral life. 

In childhood Mr. Morgan was strong and healthy, and at the 
age of thirteen began earning a partial livelihood working as a news- 
paper carrier on both a morning and evening route. This was in 
addition to his school work, and had the effect, he believes, of making 
him regular in his habits and giving him the desire to increase his 
independence. His favorite books during childhood and youth were 
those of Washington Irving, Dickens, and Thackeray, and later, on 
banking subjects. 

Mr. Morgan had desired and planned to attend a technical college 
after his course in the common schools of Hartford, but this idea 
had to be given up, circumstances forbidding its being carried out. 
In 1890, at sixteen years of age, he decided that it was necessary 
for him to become self-supporting, and accordingly he took the first 
position that offered, — that of runner for the ^tna National Bank. 
Here he has steadily risen, being promoted to the position of general 
clerk in 1892, discount clerk in 1894, and in 1899 he was elected 
cashier of the bank, and is still serving in that capacity. 

On October 17th, 1900, he married Lucile Snow Couch, of Provi- 
dence, and they have one child, a daughter. Mr. Morgan is an 
authority on banking, having given it an exhaustive study, and in 
1898, in collaboration with Mr. Henry M. Sperry, published the 
Bankers' Maturity Guide and Holliday Calendar. Mr. Morgan at- 
tends the Episcopal Church, is a member of the Church Club of 
Hartford, and of the Bachelors' Club of Hartford. He finds his 



WILLIAM DENISON MORGAN 189 

recreation in the companionships which these organizations afford, 
and in out-of-door sports, — principally hunting, canoeing and horse- 
back riding. In politics he is a Eepublican. 



FRANK LANGDON WILCOX 

WILCOX, FEANK LANGDON, represents a family that has 
been prominent and influential in New England since early 
Colonial days. On his paternal side Mr. Wilcox is a lineal 
descendant of John Wilcox, who came from England about 1630, 
and was one of the original proprietors of Hartford. On his 
maternal side he is descended from Deacon Paul Peck and the Eev. 
Thomas Hooker, the latter the famous divine and statesman, and 
both proprietors of Hartford in 1639. Another distinguished ancestor 
was Major John Mason, the apostle to the Indians. Several other 
ancestors, both Peck and Savage by name, fought in the Colonial, 
Indian, and Revolutionary wars. Mr. Wilcox's ancestors have always 
been extensive landowners in Berlin and East Berlin and Middle- 
town, Connecticut, and instrumental in building up the industries of 
those towns. 

Samuel Curtis Wilcox and Anna Scoville Peck were Mr. Wilcox's 
parents. His father was a manufacturer and farmer. He was a man 
of exceptionable business ability, and his business career was most 
interesting and prosperous. His marked characteristics were in- 
dustry, honesty, perseverance, and common sense. He was at various 
times representative and selectman of his town and an officer in many 
manufacturing, commercial, and financial institutions. He con- 
solidated various factories manufacturing similar lines into the Peck, 
Stow & Wilcox Company, and was vice-president of the company until 
his death. He started the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, and was its 
first president. Until it was absorbed by the United States Steel 
Corporation it was one of the leading bridge companies in the world. 
Mr. Wilcox's mother was his "chief inspiration and guide to every- 
thing that was good." 

The date of Mr. Wilcox's birth was January 6th, 1859 ; his birth- 
place Berlin, Hartford County. Brought up in the country and 
endowed with excellent health, Mr. Wilcox was chiefly interested in 
out-of-door life and athletic sports. He has always kept up his 



FRANK LANGDON WILCOX 193 

interest in athletics, and his favorite recreations to-day are baseball, 
cricket, golf, and all outdoor sports. His favorite authors as a boy 
were Scott and Cooper, but most of his leisure of recent years has 
been given to general reading. 

Beginning his education in a district school Mr. Wilcox continued 
it at the Berlin Academy. He then prepared for college at St. Paul's 
School, Concord, New Hampshire, and went to Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, graduating in 1880 with the degree of M.A. 

The following fall he began work as a clerk in the oflEice and pack- 
ing room of the Kensington factory of the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Com- 
pany. Parental wishes and his own "natural affinity" determined 
this course. His desire for success was an outgrowth of family and 
personal pride. 

Mr. Wilcox rose rapidly to responsible business positions. In 
1885 he became manager of the Kensington plant, the company in 
which he began as clerk, and later became the vice-president of 
the company. After the Kensington plant was destroyed by fire, 
Mr. Wilcox became associated with the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, 
and was its treasurer from 1890 to 1900, He is director in several 
corporations and banks. In 1893 he was Eepublican representative 
from Berlin, and in 1903 he was senator from the second district. 
He has held several of the minor offices in his native town; been 
chairman of some of the important legislative committees and was 
president of the Connecticut Commission to the Louisiana Purchase 
Exposition at St. Louis in 1904. He has taken an active part in the 
Second Congregational Church, Berlin, and is the superintendent 
of its Sunday school. He is a member of the college fraternity of 
"Delta Psi," of the Knights Templar and other Masonic Orders, of 
the Engineers Club of New York, the Hardware Club of New York, 
the Hartford Club, the New Britain Club, and the Country Club 
of Parmington. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial 
Wars in the State of Connecticut, and Judge Advocate on the staff of 
the first Company of Governor's Foot Guards. 

The secret of Mr. Wilcox's success lies in the virtues which he 
recommends as antidotes for failure — "Promptness, square dealing, 
industry, and temperance." 



EDWARD BROWN BENNETT 

BENNETT, HON. EDWAED BROWN, lawyer, postmaster of 
Hartford, president of the Farmington River Power Com- 
pany, and of the Hartford City Gas Light Company, and 
holder of many public offices, was born in Hampton, Windham County, 
Connecticut, April 12th, 1842. His early ancestors were sturdy New 
England farmers, the first of whom came from England to Ipswich, 
Massachusetts, and later to Hampton, Connecticut. Mr. Bennett's 
father was William Bennett, a farmer, who was representative in the 
General Assembly, selectman, and otherwise prominent in the public 
life of the community. Mr. Bennett's mother was Marina Brown 
Bennett. 

Until he was eighteen years old Edward Bennett lived on his 
father's farm, attending school in season, and "farming" the rest of 
the time. He left home in 1860 to take a two years' course at Williston 
Seminary, after which he entered Yale University and was graduated 
in 1866. He then returned to Hampton and studied law with Gov. 
Chauncey F. Cleveland, and afterwards with Franklin Chamberlain in 
Hartford. rE^ was admitted to the Windham County Bar in 1868, and 
began to practice law in his native town, and in 1869 he opened a 
law office in Hartford. In the same year in which he began his legal 
practice, that is in 1868, he was made representative to the General 
Assembly of Connecticut, and the following year he was made assist- 
ant clerk of the House, and in 1870 he was made clerk of the Senate. 
From 1872-3 he was clerk of the Hartford Police Court, and in 1872 
he was made a member of the Common Council. From 1878 to 1891 
he served as judge of the Hartford City Court. In May, 1891, he 
became postmaster of Hartford and served until 1896, and in 1900 he 
was reappointed and still holds the office. He has always been a 
strong supporter of the Republican party, and has served on the State 
central committee as its secretary. 

In addition to his profession and his public offices Judge Bennett 
has had many business interests. He has been president and treasurer 



EDWAED BEOWN BENNETT 195 

of the Farmington Eiver Power Company since 1890, and president 
of the Hartford City Gas Light Company since 1894. He is a director 
of the American School for the Deaf at Hartford. He is a member 
of no secret societies or Masonic orders. His religious connections 
are with the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. Always blessed 
with robust health, Judge Bennett delights in physical activity. 
When in college he was on the 'Varsity crew for three years. 
Bicycling is his favorite exercise now. 

Mrs. Bennett, whom he married in April, 1877, was Alice How- 
ard, daughter of the Hon. James L. Howard. Their home is at 67 
Oollins Street, Hartford. 



GEORGE BUTTON WATROUS 



WATROUS, GEOEGE BUTTON, D.C.L., attorney at law, 
instructor in Yale Law School, and one of New Haven's 
well knoM^n citizens, was born in that city September 18th, 
1858. His father was George Henry Watrous, a lawyer and president 
of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad from 1879 to 
1887 and a leader in local affairs, who was several times a member 
of the General Assembly. He was characterized by a high sense of 
honor and justice and by an extraordinary capacity for hard work. 
Mr. Watrous's mother was Harriet Joy (Button) Watrous, a daughter 
of Governor Henry Button, who died when he was but thirteen years 
old, but whose influence was especially strong on his moral and 
spiritual life. 

i^fter the regular course at the common schools and a year 
at Professor Henness's German school George B. Watrous spent six 
years at Hopkins Grammar School and then entered Yale University. 
He took his B.A. degree in 1879 and during the following year he 
earned his living by teaching a private school of his own at Litch- 
field, Connecticut. In 1880 he entered Yale Law School, where he 
remained a year. He then spent a year at Columbia Law School 
and then a year abroad, after which he returned to the Yale Law 
School and took his LL.B. degree in 1883 and his M.L. degree in 
1884. He supported himself by tutoring during almost his entire 
course in the law school and he continued his studies until 1890, 
when he took the degree of B.C.L. From 1892 to 1895 he was an 
assistant professor in the Yale Law School and in 1895 he was made 
professor and has filled the chair ever since. He has praticed law 
in New Haven ever since his admission to the bar in 1883 and his 
practice has been active and varied. 

In addition to his work as a lawyer and as an educator George 
Button Watrous has been identified wth many business and mu- 
nicipal interests. He is a director in several local corporations, 
including the New Haven Water Company, the New Haven Gas 



GEORGE BUTTON WATEOUS 197 

Light Company and the City Bank and he was a director in the local 
street railway company until they sold out in 1904. He has served 
on the boards of councilmen and aldermen and was a member of 
the commission to draft a new charter for New Haven in 1893-1894. 
In 1905 he was appointed a member of the Commission on Uniform 
Municipal Charters. He has been a director in the Free Public 
Library of New Haven. In politics he has always been an adherent 
of the Republican party. He is a member of the American Bar 
Association, of the American Historical Association, of the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, of the American Forestry 
Association, the National Geographic Society, of the University 
Club of New York, the Graduates Club, the Union League and 
Quinnipiack clubs of New Haven and of the Deta Kappa Epsilon 
and other college fraternities. He attends the Center Church (Con- 
gregational). His most congenial out-of-door recreations are bicycle 
riding, tennis, and gardening. Mrs. Watrous was Bertha Agnes 
Downer, whom he married on June 7th, 1888, and by whom he has 
had six children, all now living. 

As an educator, scholar, and lawyer George Button Watrous is 
generally recognized as an earnest and hard-working man. He 
believes that hard work under the spur of necessity has taught him 
the most important and valuable of all lessons and has had the 
greatest influence ever exerted upon his life and its success. 



EDWARD KEELER LOCKWOOD 

LOCKWOOD, EDWARD KEELER, merchant and prominent 
citizen of Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, was born 
there on the fourteenth of November, 1828. On his father's 
side he is of English descent and his mother's ancestors, the Keelers, 
came from Scotland. His grandfather, Aaron Keeler, was in the 
War of 1813 and his sons, John, Nathan, and Seth, went West to 
help found Norwalk, Ohio. Mr. Lockwood's father, Carmi Lock- 
wood, a manufacturer of woolen and cotton goods, was a leading 
citizen of Norwalk and was selectman, bank director, treasurer and 
director of the Norwalk Gas Light Company, and vestryman of St. 
Paul's Church. He was a man of careful mental habits and firm 
determination in the proper performance of all duties. Mr. Lock- 
wood's mother was Laura Keeler Lockwood, a woman of admirable 
character and strong moral influence. 

The boy, Edward Lockwood, was a typical country boy, healthy 
and active and brought up to understand the necessity of forming 
industrious habits by doing necessary chores around the house and 
farm before and after school hours. He was educated at Professor 
Coffin's Academy and Professor Storrs Hall Academy. He was 
extremely studious and always strove to be at the head of all his 
classes. In 1847 he began work as a clerk in his father's store and 
remained in that capacity until he became of age, when he was given 
an active interest in the business. The occupation of merchant was 
chosen both through parental advice and personal preference, and he 
has continued in the mercantile business throughout his entire 
life. He succeeded his father as director of the Norwalk Gas Light 
Company and as director in the National Bank of Norwalk. He 
was also, at one time, director of the First National Bank of South 
Norwalk and is now a trustee of the Norwalk Savings Society. From 
1865 to 1867 Mr. Lockwood was selectman of Norwalk. 

In church interests as well as in business and public affairs Mr. 
Lockwood has followed his father's worthy example. In 1865 he 



EDWAED KEELER LOCKWOOD 199 

was made a vestryman of St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church, in 1883 
he became junior warden and in 1903 senior warden of that church. 
He was parish treasurer for sixteen years and is now chairman 
of the finance committee and of the committee on repairs and 
supplies for the parish. In politics Mr. Lockwood was formerly 
a Whig and is now a Eepublican. He has been through 
all the chairs in Our Brothers' Lodge, No. 10, I. 0. 0. F., and 
was once treasurer of that lodge, but he took a card of withdrawal 
forty years ago because he did not have time to attend to fraternal 
matters. On the 24th of October, 1854, Mr. Lockwood married 
Harriet S. Warner of East Haddam, Connecticut. No children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood. 

Mr. Lockwood condenses the advice which the experiences of a 
long and fruitful life enable him to give with especial import and 
says, very simply, "Get an education and cultivate proper observance 
of all laws." 



WILLIAM AVERY GRIPPIN 

GRIPPIN", WILLIAM AVERY, president of the Bridgeport 
Malleable Iron Company, of the Troy Malleable Iron Com- 
pany of Troy, New York, and of the Vulcan Iron Works of 
New Britain, Connecticut, was born in Corinth, Saratoga County, 
New York, February 23rd, 1851. The ancestry of the Grippin family 
is traced to Welch and English origin. Their first emigration was to 
Vermont, but later they settled in Corinth, New York. Elijah Grip- 
pin, Mr. Grippin's great-grandfather, participated in the Revolution- 
ary War from 1776 to 1783. Mr. Grippin's parents were Alonzo J. 
Grippin and Mary Burritt. His father was a farmer of Corinth and 
a man highly respected. His most marked characteristics were a 
sincere Christian spirit and high moral principles. His mother was 
a woman of deep spirituality and her influence on her son was very 
pronounced. 

Mr. Grippin, though not a strong boy, enjoyed the duties and 
tasks of his early country life and considers these early days of 
labor on the farm as most beneficial to his health and character, 
adding that, "the influence of work well done is for good with boy as 
with man." He was devoted to books, especially the Bible and 
historical works. 

While experiencing no serious diflBculties in acquiring an educa- 
tion, Mr. Grippin received a very brief one, consisting of that offered 
by the country, district, and village public schools and the academy at 
Ballston Spa, New York, and terminating when he was fifteen. This, 
however, was supplemented by a commercial course at Eastman's 
Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, in the spring and summer 
of 1869. 

In September, 1869, Mr. Grippin began his business life at general 
office work with a firm manufacturing malleable iron castings at 
Troy, New York. He took this step from personal preference, 
guided by what he terms "providential circumstances," actuated by 
the firm belief that, "if anything is worth doing at all, it is worth 
doing well and that advancement and success are sure to foUow 




^^0^ 




WILLIAM AVERY GRIPPIN 203 

consistent action in this line." That Mr. Grippin began his career 
with the proper ideas for a young man is amply proved by the highly 
important positions to which he has been elected in the industrial 
world. In 1884 he became president of the Troy Malleable Iron 
Company, which position he still holds, and treasurer of the Bridge- 
port Malleable Iron Company, of which he became vice-president in 
July, 1904, and president in November of the same year. Since 
November, 1890, he has been president of the Vulcan Iron Works of 
New Britain. He is director in several other manufacturing com- 
panies, and in the Pequonnock National Bank of Bridgeport and the 
Century Bank of the City of New York. 

Between 1894 and 1904 Mr. G-rippin served two unexpired terms 
and one full three year term on the Board of Apportionment and 
Taxation of Bridgeport. He is a member of the Seaside Club, of the 
Contemporary Club, of the Bridgeport Yacht Club, and the Scientific 
Historical Society of Bridgeport. In politics Mr Grippin is identified 
with the Republican party, from which he has never turned his al- 
legiance on any national issue, though on local issues he favors the 
best man regardless of party. In religious views Mr. Grippin is a 
Baptist, and is very prominent and active in church work as will 
be seen from the following: From October, 1896, to October, 1900, 
he was president of the Connecticut Baptist Convention, and since 
April, 1904, has served on the executive board of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society of New York. He was president of 
the Baptist Social Union of Connecticut during 1901-1902 and con- 
tinues an active member. 

On November 10th, 1875, Mr. Grippin married Adell Jackson of 
Ballston Spa, New York. They have two children, a son, William 
Jackson, general manager and treasurer of the Bridgeport Malleable 
Iron Company, and a daughter, Edna Adell. Mr. Grippin's home, 
since 1884, has been at Marina Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut, with 
a summer home, "Blythewood," at Lake George, New York. 

Beginning like so many of our foremost American citizens, in the 
simple, healthy, industrious life of farming, Mr. Grippin has made 
his way with rapid strides to places of recognized importance in the 
business world. Along the pathway of business success he has 
gathered a broad culture and lively spiritual interests. To young 
men who would succeed in life he says : "Be prompt, systematic. 



204 WILLIAM AVERT GRIPPIN 

thorough, honest, industrious, and temperate ; stand firmly for prin- 
ciple, avoid debt, and strive to keep expenditures well within income. 
If you do not find Just what you would like to do, take what you can 
find and do it so well that something more desirable will follow as 
a natural result. Do not wait for something to turn up, but turn up 
something,— in other words, make opportunities." 



BURTON MANSFIELD 

MANSFIELD, BURTON, one of the foremost members of the 
New Haven bar, was born in Hamden, New Haven County, 
Connecticut, April 4th, 1856. He is the son of Jesse Mer- 
rick Mansfield and Catharine Betsey (Warner) Mansfield. His 
father was a prosperous farmer and business man in Hamden, where 
he held the position of selectman and other town offices. Four years 
after the birth of his son he moved to the city. Mr. Mansfield's 
ancestors were among the early English settlers in New England; 
the first to arrive in this country were Richard and Gilian Mansfield, 
who came to New Haven in 1639. 

Young Mansfield was a strong, healthy boy, who spent the first 
years of his life in the country. He was fortunate in being able 
to receive a careful school and university training before starting 
out for himself in life, but even when a boy he had each day his 
regular tasks to perform, many of them involving manual labor. 
It was no doubt in this manner that he developed the habits of 
industry and perseverance which have characterized his life's work. 
After attending the Eaton public school in New Haven, he went to 
the Rectory School in Hamden, and later to the Hopkins Grammar 
School in New Haven, where he was prepared for Yale College. He 
was graduated from Yale with the class of 1875, receiving the degree 
of Ph.B. He then became a clerk in the Probate Court in New 
Haven, a position which he held for one year. Having decided to 
adopt the legal profession, he matriculated at the Yale Law School 
and in 1878 received his degree of LL.B. The same year he was 
admitted to the bar in New Haven, and began a legal practice, which 
he has continued without interruption, allowing no foreign con- 
siderations to interfere with his professional work. Equipped with 
the best legal preparation offered by one of the first law schools in the 
country, and endowed with natural ability, patience, and perse- 
verance, he has worked hard and achieved success. His high standing 
in the eoramunity is due to what he has accomplished in his legal 



206 BURTON MANSFIELD 

work. He has served liis community as a member of various city 
commissions and for two years, ending in 1895, as insurance com- 
missioner of the State. In politics, he is associated with the Demo- 
cratic party, but on the silver issue he changed temporarily his 
party allegiance, as did the greater number of those who term them- 
selves Gold Democrats. He is president of the Connecticut Savings 
Bank of New Haven, succeeding the late Governor Morris. 

In 1900 Mr. Mansfield was married to Anna Rosalie Mix. He 
has no children. His chief form of amusement and recreation is 
horseback riding. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
in which he has been a power and a leader of the laymen, and also a 
member of several important committees in the diocese of Connecti- 
cut. "Honesty, patience, and perseverance" are the principles which 
he believes in, practices, and teaches. His life has been one of 
real success and these ideals are what helped him attain this success 
while still a comparatively young man. As a student of art he has 
few superiors, and owns a collection of rare interest, which he has 
made with enthusiasm and judgment. 



EDGAR LEROY POND 



POXD, EDGAR LeROY, president of the Andrew Terry 
Company, of Terryville, Connecticut, manufacturers of mal- 
leable iron castings, was bom in Plymouth, Connecticut, 
March 3rd, 1854. He is a descendant of Phineas Pond, who came 
from England to Branford, Connecticut, about 1735. Mr. Pond's 
father was Alexander Pond, a farmer, who served his townsmen as 
selectman and in other capacities and was known as a man of 
promptness in all his dealings. Mr. Pond's mother, whose maiden 
name was Lydia Gaylord, was a woman of forceful character and her 
influence was very strong on her son's moral and spiritual life. 

Though he was a frail boy Edgar Pond spent an industrious 
boyhood, for he worked on the farm until he was fifteen years old 
and this labor implanted habits of industry. He attended the dis- 
trict school during its sessions and this was the extent of his edu- 
cation. The death of his mother had broken up the home and he 
availed himself of the first position open to him at the age of fif- 
teen, which was a clerkship in the country store of W. H. Scott & 
Company in Terryville. He has been identified with the mercantile 
and manufacturing interests of Terryville ever since, and from his 
beginning at the bottom thirty-three years ago he has justly attained 
to the presidency of the Andrew Terry Company, which was started 
by the late Andrew Terry in 1847, and was the first malleable iron 
foundry in Connecticut. The company was incorporated about 1860. 
In 1886 Mr. Pond was chosen to represent his town in the State 
Legislature, and in 1901 he was elected State senator. He has held 
many local offices and has always been a consistent member 
of the Republican party. He is a member of the Congregational 
Church, of the Sons of the American Revolution, in which organiza- 
tion he is a member of the board of managers, and he has been 
state commander of the Order of the United American Mechanics. 
Fraternally he is a member of the order of F. and A. M., of the 
A. 0. U. W., and 0. U. A. M. Golf is his favorite outdoor amuse- 
ment. 



208 EDGAE LEROY POND 

On the sixth of November, 1878, Mr. Pond married Ella 
Antoinette Goodwin. Of the three children bom to Mr. and Mrs. 
Pond two are now living, Edgar LeRoy Pond, Jr., bom December 
26th, 1883, a graduate of Yale in the class of 1904, now in Yale Law 
School, and Dwight Warren, born September 24th, 1889, now in high 
school. The family home is at Terryville. 

Weighing his failures and successes in life, Mr. Pond says: "I 
have failed partly by lack of confidence in my own ability. I am 
sure that such success as I have had in life has been gained by 
carrying out to the best of my ability whatever responsibility was 
placed upon me, whether it was small or great. My advice to young 
men is, 'Whatever you attempt to do, do it.' " 





Cb^<^, 



WILLIAM BRADDOCK CLARK 

CLARK, WILLIAM BRADDOCK, president of the ^tna (Fire) 
Insurance Company, is a man who stands well up in the front 
ranks of the workers in this country whose lives are an impel- 
ling force of good to others. His constant watchword through life 
has been "get to the head," and through his own individual efforts 
he stands to-day foremost in the profession with which he has been 
identified for nearly a half century. 

Mr. Clark was born in Hartford, Connecticut, June 29th, 1841, 
He was the son of Abel N. Clark and Emily I. (Braddock) Clark. 
The family, several generations back, is of fine old English stock, but 
since the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620 it has been con- 
nected with the making and preservation of the institutions of this 
country. Late in the year 1635 John Clark, the first of the name in 
America, removed from his temporary home in Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts (formerly Newton), to Hartford, in company with other 
settlers of the State. His name appears on the monument to Hart- 
ford's fathers which stands in the historic old Center burying ground. 
Through Matthew, John, and Abel Clark the family descended to 
Revolutionary times. Abel Clark was one of the signers of the 
famous document of September 3rd, 1775, agreeing to go to the 
relief of the besieged inhabitants of Boston. Another ancestor, his 
paternal grandfather, served in the War of 1812. 

Mr. Clark's father, Abel N. Clark, was for many years editor 
and proprietor of the Hartford Courant, and was recognized as a 
man of great industry, intelligence, and fidelity, and his compara- 
tively premature death was a keen loss, not only to his family, but 
to the State and city. The son, William B., inherited many of 
the estimable traits of the father and, being an indefatigable worker 
and organizer, he has more than doubled his ten talents. 

His early education was acquired at the old North School in Hart- 
ford. This was supplemented by a year at the New Britain High 
School and a course at Gallup's "College Green" school in Trinity 



212 WILLIAM BRADDOCK CLARK 

Street. As a boy Mr. Clark had rather a marked taste for mechanics, 
but as he lived in a literary, rather than a mechanical, atmosphere 
these tastes were never materially developed, and when he left school 
it was to enter his father's newspaper office. Showing no especial 
aptitude for this business, he decided, after a year's trial, that his 
father's profession need not necessarily become his own, and he severed 
his connection with the Courant. Mr. Clark then accepted a position 
in the office of the Phoenix Insurance Company, of Hartford, and 
entered on a business career, which has always gone steadily onward 
and upward. Here he continued in a subordinate position for six 
years. At the end of that time his unflagging interest and zeal for 
his work were recognized and he was elected to the secretaryship of 
the company, a high honor for a man in his twenty-third year. A 
little later, having been tendered the office of assistant secretary of the 
jEtna Insurance Company, he left the Phoenix to enter a larger field 
of activity. He soon made himself a power in the new company by 
his splendid work, unfailing good nature, and courteous manners. 
In 1888, Mr. Clark was chosen by unanimous vote to fill the position 
of vice-president. His thirty years of training in all branches of the 
work was soon felt, and the fortunes of the company took an imme- 
diate leap forward. It was only a matter of time when a career so 
piarked by high ability, integrity, and judgment would be given the 
crowning honor. This came in 1892, on his unanimous election to the 
office of president of the ^tna Insurance Company, oddly enough on 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of his connection with the company. Mr. 
Clark's course as president of this great organization is well known. 
He is extremely popular with the large number of agents which the 
company has in nearly every state in the Union, and his success, com- 
ing as it has from continual application to the details of his business 
and a resolution to let each promotion be only the means to gain 
another, has been of real encouragement and inspiration to them. 
While Mr, Clark is next to the youngest president among those of the 
various Hartford companies, he is the oldest fire underwriter in point 
of years of service in Hartford. He is now in his forty-ninth year of 
active work in the insurance business. 

.He married Caroline H. Robbins, daughter of Philemon E. Bob- 
bins of Hartford, in May, 1863, who died in June, 1902. Five 
children were born to them, two sons and three daughters, but only 



WILLIAM BRADDOCK CLARK 213 

the daughters have survived. Mr. Clark has traveled extensively in 
this country, but his tastes are domestic, he is essentially a home 
body, and the pleasures of his family circle have always been para- 
mount to those of club life. He has a fine library in his beautiful 
home on Farmington Avenue, and is a close student of affairs of the 
day. 

He is an active member of the Connecticut Historical Society and 
of the New England Society; a director of the Travelers Insurance 
Company, the City Bank, the First National Bank, the Fidelity 
Company, and several other organizations of the kind. He is a 
trustee of the Society for Savings, the Mechanics Savings Bank, and 
of the Holland Trust Company of New York City; he is one of the 
corporation of the Hartford Hospital and a trustee of the Eetreat for 
the Insane. He was president of the National Board of Fire Under- 
writers for 1896 and 1897, but declined reelection after most urgent 
requests to serve again. 

Mr. Clark served as an alderman from the old third ward from 
1880 to 1882, and was chairman of the ordinance and printing com- 
mittees. In 1882 he was appointed one of the board of water com- 
missioners and served there for nine years, being re-appointed for 
two terms. In 1890 he was one of the famous committee on Outdoor 
Alms which brought about important reforms in city affairs. 

With the same interest which he manifests in everything he 
undertakes Mr. Clark has gone into politics. He is a staunch 
Republican and a member of the Republican Club of Hartford. He 
was a member of the noted "Wide Awakes" and took an active 
interest in the doings of the organization in 1861, just before he 
attained his majority. He is treasurer of the civil organization of 
the "Wide Awakes" and paymaster on Major Rathbun's staff. He 
was one of the presidents and vice-presidents of the Veteran Corps 
of the Governor's Foot Guard, in which command his father was 
also much interested. 

Mr. Clark is connected with the First Baptist Church, being a 
working member of the same, and is a generous supporter of all its 
benevolent and charitable works. 

His recreation is taken out of doors, gaining the muscle power 
necessary for work in these times of competition. He is an enthusias- 
tic oarsman and has been interested in rowing for many years, serving 



214 



WILLIAM BRADDOCK CLARK 



as one of the fleet captains of the old Hartford navy before the war. 
Most of his vacation hours are spent in this sport in his summer home 
near Fenwick. 

Through his whole life William Braddock Clark has been domi- 
nated by the resolution to achieve success through work. All that he 
has gained has been by honesty to himself and his employer. He is 
rounding out his life in a manner that should be a working example 
to every young man. Beginning at the lowest rung of the ladder 
he has gained the topmost, testing and being tested. Probably if his 
life were to be lived over again there would be found few things which 
could have been done more painstakingly or with more thought as to 
consequences. A man of real worth to community and country is Mr. 
Clark, the character of man who has vindicated the spirit of the 
handful of men from whom he came, who blazed the trail through the 
wilderness and opened up the promised land for us. He is essentially 
an American gentleman in all that the term implies. 

On August 30th, 1905, Mr. Clark married Mrs. Eachel W. Ewing, 
at New Hartford, Connecticut. 



ABRAM HEATON ROBERTSON 

ROBERTSON", ABRAM HEATON, lawyer and public man, was 
born in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, Sep- 
tember 25th, 1850, He traces his ancestry to Deputy-Governor 
Stephen Goodyear of Connecticut, who came from England sometime 
between 1660 and 1670, and to Samuel Robertson, who came from 
Scotland in 1780 and was a merchant in Charleston, South Caro- 
lina. Mr. Robertson's father was John Brownlee Robertson, by pro- 
fession a physician, a man beloved for his courtesy and kindness of 
heart. He was alderman of the city of New Haven, a member of the 
General Assembly from New Haven, secretary of state of Connecti- 
cut and postmaster and mayor of New Haven. Mr. Robertson's 
mother was Mabel Maria Heaton, a woman of strong character and 
uplifting influence. 

Brought up in a city and in an intellectual home atmosphere and 
blessed with good health Mr. Robertson had no difficulty in acquiring 
the education he naturally desired. His chief interests as a boy were 
in athletics and reading. His favorite books were those on history 
and travel, and he has continued through his later life to find these 
subjects the most helpful and interesting ones, outside of his pro- 
fessional studies as a lawyer. He attended the Russell Military 
Academy in New Haven and then attended the Hopkins Grammar 
School there. He was graduated from the Yale Academic Depart- 
ment in 1872 and from the Columbia Law School in 1874 with the 
degree of LL.B. Twenty years later, in 1894, Trinity College con- 
ferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. 

In 1875 Mr. Robertson began the practice of law in New Haven 
and the following year he married Graziella Ridgway, by whom he has 
had three children. He has continued steadily in the practice of 
law and his rise in his profession has been proportionally constant. 
Both in connection with his profession and outside of it he has held 
many public offices. From 1878 to 1882 he was alderman of New 
Haven. From 1880 to 1882 he was a member of the General Assem- 



216 ABEAM HEATON ROBEKTSON 

bly and during that time he served on the committees on railroad, 
contested elections, and the judiciary. He was State senator in 1885 
and 1886, judge of probate court for district of New Haven from 
1887 to 1895, corporation counsel for New Haven from 1899 to 1901, 
Democratic candidate for governor of Connecticut in 1904 and Demo- 
cratic nominee for United States senator in 1905. Judge Kobertson 
was an aide on Governor Ingersoll's staff from 1873 to 1877 with the 
rank of colonel. 

Added to his public services and his professional work Judge 
Eobertson has many business, social, and church interests. He is a 
director in the Southern New England Telephone Company, in the 
New Haven Gas Light Company, the New Haven County National 
Bank, the New Haven Ice Company, the Naugatuck Kailroad Com- 
pany, the Meriden, Middletown and Waterbury Railroad Company, 
the Northampton Eailroad Company, and the Young Men's Institute 
of New Haven. He is a member of the Graduates Club of New 
Haven, of the University Club of New York, the Psi Upilson College 
Fraternity, the Sons of the American Eevolution, the Society of 
Colonial Wars, and the Yale secret society of Wolf's Head. In creed 
he is an Episcopalian and he is a warden of Trinity Church, New 
Haven. His favorite recreation is horseback riding. Mr. Robertson 
has written several treatises on municipal government and various 
opinions on questions of municipal law in the Municipal Year Book, 
which embody his great public spirit and clear insight into legal and 
municipal affairs. 



LEWIS ORSMOND BRASTOW 

BEASTOW, LEWIS OESMOND, D.D., professor of practical 
theology at Yale University, is a native of Maine. He was 
born in Brewer, Penobscot County, on March 23rd, 1834, 
the son of Deodat Brastow and Eliza Blake Brastow. His father's 
ancestors were English, his mother's maternal ancestors French, 
and representatives of both sides were among the settlers in Massachu- 
setts in the eighteenth century. Also they were to be found among 
the fighters for independence in the Eevolutionary War, one paternal 
ancestor on the staff of General Washington. Deodat Brastow was 
a generous, frank man, of intellectual vivacity and of much forceful- 
ness. Following the business of a merchant, he was also deeply inter- 
ested in "all that pertained to education and held various offices con- 
nected with the public school system. 

Lewis Orsmond Brastow was blessed with a strong constitution — 
healthy, robust, and active. As a boy he was fond of boating, of 
natural scenery, and of mountain climbing. During his village life 
his work at gardening, caring for the live stock, handling carpenter's 
tools and the like gave him appreciation of the training of the hand 
and eye and of the value of attention, trustworthiness, and sentiment, 
whatever the task. Over his moral and spiritual upbringing, his 
father and mother exerted a powerful influence. While a lover of 
books and having a predilection for the study of foreign languages, 
he believes that the lines of reading which have had most effect 
upon his career are classical and English literature, history, philos- 
ophy, and standard works in theology. 

Fitting himself for college under private tutors, he entered 
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., and received his degree of B.A. 
in 1857. His high stand won him membership in Phi Beta Kappa 
and he also was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. Such had been the 
religious bent of his life that he went at once to Bangor Theological 
Seminary, where, after a full course in divinity, he was graduated in 
1860. His Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of D.D. and 
in 1885 Yale gave him the degree of M.A. 



318 LEWIS ORSMOND BEASTOW 

His first pastorate was with the South Congregational Church at 
Saint Johnsbury, Vt., 1861 to 1873. During part of this time, from 
September, 1863, to July, 1863, he was serving in the field as chaplain 
of the Twelfth Eegiment of Vermont Volunteer Infantry, in the 
Civil War, From September, 1873, to May, 1884, he was pastor 
of the First Congregational Church of Burlington, Vt. Then he was 
appointed professor of practical theology in the Yale Divinity School, 
a position which he has held since 1885. 

His regard for the general public welfare has led him to give of 
his services in the interests of good civil government, and in addition 
to his lectures on theological topics he has delivered occasional ad- 
dresses on educational and political subjects. In 1880 he was chosen 
a member of the Vermont Constitutional Convention. In politics 
he is an Independent, but has voted the Democratic national ticket 
since James G. Blaine was nominated for the presidency by the Ee- 
publicans in 1884. In ecclesiastical affiliations he is a Congrega- 
tionalist. In 1904 he published a work entitled, "Representative 
Modern Preachers." 

For exercise the professor has indulged in long rambles, horse- 
back riding and boating. He is a member of a literary club in New 
Haven. 

He married Miss Martha Brewster Ladd on May 15th, 1872. 
They have had three children, all of whom are living. The pro- 
fessor's home is at No. 146 Cottage Street, New Haven. 

Asked what suggestions he would offer to young Americans as to 
principles, methods, and habits which he believed would contribute 
most to the strengthening of sound ideals in our American life and 
would most help young people to attain true success in life, the doctor 
replied : "A high conception of the value of individual manhood, con- 
scientious fidelity to trusts, strong moral convictions, courageous de- 
votion to principles, freedom from bondage to any man or set of 
men." 



HERBERT KNOX SMITH 

SMITH, HEEBEET KNOX, lawyer, deputy commissioner of 
corporations, former member of legislature and many times 
a public officer, whose home is in Hartford, Connecticut, was 
born in Chester, Hampden County, Massachusetts, November 17th, 
1869. His early ancestors in this country were Eobert Smith, bom 
in 1700 and a member of the Long Island family of St. George's 
Manor, and Judith Fountain, his wife, born in Greenwich, Connecti- 
cut, 1734. Mr. Smith's father was Edward Alfred Smith, a Con- 
gregational clergyman and fellow of the Yale University Corporation, 
a man of high character and of great modesty and unselfishness. 
Mr. Smith's mother was Melissa E. Knox Smith. He was brought 
up in the country and the love of nature and rural life was one 
of his strongest boyhood traits. Histoiy, law, and economics were 
his favorite-fields of study and reading. He attended private school 
and then entered the Lawrenceville Preparatory School. He was 
an ardent devotee of baseball, tennis, shooting, camping, and aU 
out-of-door sports, and while at Lawrenceville he played on the 
school nine. He entered Yale Academic Department with the class 
of 1891 and after his graduation entered the Yale Law School, 
where he received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1895. 

In October, 1895, the fall following his completion of the law 
course, Mr. Smith began legal practice in Hartford and he con- 
tinued in the general practice of law in that city until 1903, when 
he went to Washington to take his present government position. In 
addition to his practice Mr. Smith has had many busmess and public 
positions. Since 1899 he has been a director of the American School 
for the Deaf; from 1900 to 1903 he was chairman of the First 
Ecclesiastical Society (Congregational) of Hartford; from 1900 to 
1903 he was chairman of the Sixth Ward Eepublican Committee; 
he served two terms, 1900-1902, on the Hartford Common 
Council; he represented Hartford in the State Legislature in 
the term 1903-1905 and was a member of the judiciary com- 



220 HERBERT KNOX SMITH 

mittee of that legislature; he was chairman of the Eepublican Town 
Committee in 1903, acting solicitor of the Department of Com- 
merce and Labor in 1903, a member of the United States Commis- 
sion of Investigation upon the Slocum Disaster in 1904, and he has 
been a delegate to various cit}^ and state political conventions. 

At present Mr. Smith is Deputy Commissioner of Corporations 
at Washington, to which position he was appointed in August, 1903 ; 
he is a trustee of the Hartford Theological Seminary and of the 
Wadsworth Atheneum, a member of the Park Board of Hartford, 
and a director in the Farmington Savings Bank. He is an active Yale 
alumnus and was for three years secretary and treasurer of the Yale 
Alumni Association of Hartford. He is a member of the scholarly 
college society of Phi Beta Kappa, of the Elihu Club of Yale, of the 
Yale Club of New York, the Metropolitan Club of Washington, and 
the Hartford Club of his home city. 

Though Herbert Knox Smith is still a young man he has accom- 
plished a great deal more than many a man of much riper years and 
his advice is as forceful and adequate as though it had the weight of 
a long life's experience behind it. He believes that "the best and 
most necessary form of patriotism is active attention to civic duties, 
and that the basis for the most lasting success in life is honesty, the 
maintenance of unselfish ideals of service, and the thorough per- 
formance of all work, no matter how unimportant." 



FRANCIS WANZER MARSH 

MAESH, FEANCIS WANZER, banker, of Bridgeport, Con- 
necticut, was born near New Milford, Litchfield County, 
Connecticut, December 18th, 1846. He is descended from 
William Marsh of Boston, a commissary in the Indian War in 1636 
who was wounded in the Narragansett fight. This William was a 
brother of James Marsh of Kent, England, a captain in the royal 
army who was beheaded by Charles I. at Hedgehill, which tragedy 
was the cause of William leaving college and coming to America. On 
his mother's side Mr. Marsh is descended from Daniel and Mary 
Brownson Hine of Waterbury, founders of the Hine family in Amer- 
ica. His parents were Laura Hine and John Buckley Marsh, a far- 
mer, whose most pronounced characteristics were love of home and 
family, strict integrity, and hard, strenuous industry. The home life 
of this family was ideal in its simplicity, in its Christian atmosphere, 
and in the devotion of each member to the others. There were nine 
other children beside Mr. Marsh and, as the family means were most 
moderate, he had plenty of hard work to do in his boyhood and his 
education was confined to that of country schools. He helped on the 
farm at home and attended school until he was seventeen, when he 
went to work in a country store. In 1866, when he was twenty years 
old, Mr. Marsh took a position in a dry goods store in Bridgeport, re- 
maining there one year, and going from that position into the 
insurance business and savings bank, where he remained until 
1886. Commencing as office boy he was promoted from time to time 
until he became treasurer of the bank. 

In 1886 a partnership was formed. Marsh, Merwin & Leramon, 
combining private banking with insurance and real estate. The busi- 
ness grew steadily along all three lines until about 1901 when the 
firm organized two companies, the Bridgeport Trust Company, with 
a charter from the State of Connecticut, which has now a 
capital of $200,000 with a fine surplus, and the Bridgeport 
Land and Title Company, also with a State charter, which 
has now a capital of $100,000. The building up of these com- 
panies has been Mr. Marsh's life work, and as president of the 



224 FRANCIS WANZER MARSH 

trust company he has a position of well merited prominence in the 
banking world. The forces which he has brought to bear in the 
attainment of his success have been a constant determination to 
labor honorably for a position in life, and pride in doing well every- 
thing he had to do. 

Outside of his business life, and by no means secondary to it, 
Mr. Marsh's greatest interest has been in his church life. He is a 
Presbyterian in his religious affiliations, and his activity in the work 
of that church has taken much of his time. He has been an elder of 
the First Presbyterian Church, Sunday school superintendent, 
director and treasurer of the Young Men's Christian Association, 
and a member of both local and state committees on Christian 
Endeavor work. His church work, business interests, and home life 
have so fully occupied Mr. Marsh that he has never held or wished 
public office, though he is a consistent and loyal Kepublican. 

On May 17th, 1871, Mr. Marsh married Emma Clifford Wilson, 
who is a daughter of the late Isaac Wilson, a highly respected citizen 
of early Bridgeport and at one time a member of the city council; 
he was descended from the old Wilson family of Leeds, England, 
upon whose land the city was built. Mrs. Marsh's mother was Miss 
Elizabeth Shepard, a direct descendant in the eighth generation from 
William Bradford, Colonial Governor of Plymouth, Massachusetts. 
A daughter of his son. Major William Bradford, married Samuel 
Shepard of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mrs. Marsh is an active 
member in various literary, social, and musical clubs; a director in 
the Y. W. C. A., the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Y. M. C. A., and a 
daughter of the Mary Silliman Chapter D. A. R. and former record- 
ing secretary. She is an active member of the First Presbyterian 
Church, a teacher in the Sunday school, and a leader in philanthropic 
church work. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh, 
Egbert Shepard, Violet Shepard, Clifford Wanzer and Mabel Ehoades. 
Their home is at 852 Park Avenue, Bridgeport. 

Mr. Marsh's success as a man and as a banker is plainly accounted 
for in the precepts he gives to others and which have undoubtedly 
guided his career. He advocates first of all 'Tiigh ideals of purity, 
honesty, and industry," and says, "Abide your time while hard at 
work; think more of how you are doing than what you are getting. 
Help the other fellow. Make him work hard to get ahead of you, but 
if he does, tell him you are glad." 



MORRIS FRANKLIN TYLER 

TYLEE, MOERIS FRANKLIN, lawyer, president of the 
Southern New England Telephone Company, was born in 
New Haven, Connecticut, August 13th. 1848. His father, 
Morris Tyler, was a wholesale manufacturer of boots and shoes in 
New Haven, Connecticut, a man of uprightness and directness, who 
served his native city as councilman, as alderman, and as mayor, and 
his state as lieutenant governor in 1871 and 1872. He married Mary 
Frisbie, daughter of Ezekiel and Elizabeth (Frisbie) Butler of West- 
port, New York State. 

Morris Franklin Tyler was a strong and hearty child, and early 
showed his interest in books and study. He was brought up in the 
city and was afforded every advantage that could serve to train his 
mind and, after leaving the public grammar school, was graduated at 
the Hillhouse High School and at once matriculated at Yale 
University, where he was graduated A.B. 1870, A.M. 1873, and LL.B. 
1873, Adopting the profession of law was the result of circumstances 
which seemed to lead up to it and he was admitted to the bar im- 
mediately after taking his bachelor degree at Yale University Law 
School. He opened a law ofiBce in New Haven, Connecticut, July 1st, 
1873. 

His early political affiliation was with the Republican party, but 
the incidents attending the campaign between the Republican candi- 
date for president, James G. Blaine, and Grover Cleveland, the 
candidate of the Democratic party, compelled him to vote with the 
Democrats and from that time he has remained independent in 
politics. His church affiliation is with the Congregational denomi- 
nation. In March, 1883, he was elected president of the Southern 
New England Telephone Company, and the growth of this 
enterprise has occurred under his management. He served as execu- 
tive secretary to Governor Hobart B. Bigelow of Connecticut in 1881 
and 1882. He was instructor in jurisprudence in Yale University, 
1893-94, full professor of law 1894-99, and treasurer of the corpora- 



236 MORRIS FRANKLIN TYLER 

tion 1899-1904. He is a member of the Union League, Grolier and 
Yale clubs of New York City and of the Quinnipiack and Graduates 
Clubs of New Haven, Connecticut. 

Mr, Tyler is a man of strong personality and keen judgment, 
unique among presidents of public service corporations. He has 
strong views upon the subject of the obligations owed to the public 
by these corporations, and is the first president of one of them, the 
Southern New England Telephone Company, to issue new stock to 
stockholders at a figure considerably in advance of par, thus antici- 
pating legislation of that import. A lover of literature and nature, 
a professional man by education, and a corporation manager by 
position, he represents a type destined to prevail and dominate in 
the years to come. 

He was married November 5th, 1873, to Delia Talman, daughter 
of Victor Gilford and Georgiana (Mallory) Audubon of New York 
City, and of the five children born of this marriage four are now living. 
The children living are Victor Morris Tyler, secretary of the 
Southern New England Telephone Company, Ernest Franklin Tyler, 
an artist in New York City, Leonard Sanford Tyler, and Audubon 
Tyler. His daughter, Mary Tyler, died in November, 1902, at the 
age of seventeen years and eleven months. 



FRANK ALBERT WALLACE 

WALLACE, FKANK ALBEET, president of the E. Wallace 
and Son's Manufacturing Company, of Wallingford, ISTew 
Haven County, Connecticut, was born in that town Sep- 
tember 23rd, 1857. He is a descendant of James Wallace, who came 
from Scotland to Ireland and later to Blandford, Massachusetts, in 
early colonial days. His father was Eobert Wallace, one of the most 
progressive and prominent manufacturers of his day, a man whose 
originality and persistent application left a marked influence on the 
history of American industry. He was the pioneer manufacturer of 
German silver in America, and started the largest concern devoted to 
the manufacture of flat silverware in the world. Mr. Wallace's 
mother was Harriet Moulthroup, a woman who exerted a power- 
ful influence upon the moral life of her son. 

As a boy Mr Wallace was healthy and strong. He was brought 
up in the country, attended the common schools there, and always 
had plenty of work to do outside of school hours. 

In 1873 Mr. Wallace began his life work as a manufacturer by 
entering his father's employ. The concern then manufactured 
exclusively for the Meriden Britannia Company, but in 1876 the 
business took on much larger proportions and began the rapid develop- 
ment which has made it the largest of its kind in the world. From 
the moment the company started to market its own productions Mr. 
Wallace was determined to win the utmost success as a silversmith, 
and the fact that he is now president of an industry that has sales- 
rooms in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and London shows the 
full realization of this desire for success. Mr. Wallace has been 
workman, director, superintendent, secretary and, since 1892, president 
of the company, and the growth of the business has been as rapid 
and as just as his own rise in position. His career proves the value of 
a thorough mastery of one business and of a single aim in life, that 
of doing one thing thoroughly and well. Mr. Wallace has never held 
public ofiice, though he is a staunch Eepublican. His business 



228 FRANK ALBERT WALLACE 

interests, outside of his own company, are presidency and director- 
ship in the First National Bank of Wallingford and directorship in the 
Wallingford Company. He is also a director in the New Haven 
County Anti-tuberculosis Society. He has been president of the 
Wallace Purchasing Company since 1894. 

In private life Mr. Wallace has much that is of interest. In creed 
he is a Congregationalist. Socially he is a member of the Union 
League Club of New Haven. His favorite diversions are fly fishing 
and automobiling. In June, 1884, Mr. Wallace married Zula Custer, 
and in December, 1898, he married his second wife, Sarah Eose Man- 
ning. He has four children, Barbara Manning, Jean Atwater, Eobert, 
and Floyd. 



HOEACE DUTTON TAFT 

TAFT, HORACE DUTTON, educator and head master of the 
Taft School at Watertown, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 
was born in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, on December 
28th, 1861. His earliest ancestor in this country was Eobert Taft, 
who came from England and settled in Massachusetts about 1670. 
Mr. Taft's father, Alphonso Taft, a lawyer, was judge of the 
Superior Court in Cincinnati, Secretary of War, Attorney General, 
United States minister to Austria and to Russia. Mr. Taft's brother, 
William Howard Taft, former governor of the Philippine Islands, 
is now Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Roosevelt. 

Mr. Taft lived in Cincinnati until he was twenty-five years old. 
He prepared for college in the Woodward High School and then 
entered Yale College, where he received the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts in 1883. He was a member of the Skull and Bones Society and 
of Psi Upsilon. After a year abroad he entered the Cincinnati Law 
School. He did not graduate, but was admitted to the bar before 
the end of his course. He practiced law for a year in partnership with 
his father, Alphonso Taft, and Henry N. Morris, under the firm name 
of Taft, Morris & Taft. In 1887, however, he abandoned the 
practice of the law and accepted an appointment as tutor in Latin in 
Yale University, his purpose being to enter upon educational work and 
eventually to establish a school. He held the tutorship for three years 
and in 1890 established a school at Pelham Manor, New York. In 
1893 he moved the school to Watertown, Connecticut, where it now 
is. The school has prospered and has now more than a hundred 
pupils and is ranked as among the half-dozen leading preparatory 
schools in the East. 

Though Mr. Taft was a Cleveland Democrat, he Joined the Repub- 
lican party when Bryan came to the front. On the 29th of June, 1892, 
Mr. Taft married Winifred S. Thompson, of Niagara Falls, New 
York. Mr. Taft is a man of strong individuality and especially 
fitted by temperament and in disposition to develop and inspire the 
young schoolboy. 



CHARLES HOPKINS CLARK 

PERSONAL accomplishment is one measure of a man's life. The 
influencing of others to achievement is another, hardly second- 
ary, and if in fact less appreciated it is because it is not 
always furnished by those influenced and is of itself more difficult 
of apprehension by the world at large. Both measures are invited by 
the life of Charles Hopkins Clark of Hartford. And one is as 
readily applied by the reviewer as the other, since the result 
of his endeavor with and through others is as clear to the 
public mind as is his one "life work," the editorship of the Hartford 
Courant. An editor of such a journal, through a considerable period 
of years, he naturally would have great influence in a wide circle of 
most intelligent readers; that is the function of every worthy editor, 
and that — the public has often learned — is what Mr. Clark prizes 
above all other honors. But there is another source and method 
of his influence, as of his achievement, and that is to be found in the 
versatility of his genuis, his quick grasp of a situation in its entirety, 
his power of forecasting, his frankness and keenness as an adviser. 
The question put, the answer comes like a flash, sometimes convulsing 
one with its wit, but always unerringly straight to the point. 

Men of such mold cannot be in constant agreement with all their 
fellows, nor yet at all times with the majority of those with whom 
they may most like to agree. But they conduct their contests in the 
open, and it is when both sides or all sides are contesting in the 
open, in politics, that such men become party counselors and leaders. 
They are the men who stand for action as against dark-room plot- 
ting, for having the public see everything that is done and how it is 
done, and then doing it, accepting iuU responsibility in their con- 
sciousness of above-board purpose. 

If there is such a thing as the "old New England conscience," so 
often mentioned in literature, Mr. Clark should have it by inheritance, 
for his ancestors include Elder William Brewster, Benjamin Payne, 
Matthew Grant, John Hopkins, Nathaniel Whiting, John Dwight, 




'TCt.LA^ ^lfl^l^^J(^ 



OHABLES HOPKINS CLARK 233 

John Bronson, William Clarke, John Strong, and Joseph Parsons. 
It is hardly necessary to mention the deeds of these builders of New 
England and American history; aside from their achievements it is 
to be noted that each was an exemplar of those sturdy qualities — "old 
New England conscience" or what you will — which so materially 
have advanced the nation and the race. 

Mr. Clark's father was the Hon. Ezra Clark who, as president of 
the Board of Water Commissioners, did much toward establishing 
Hartford's splendid system of water supply, and who also served the 
First Connecticut District most acceptably as its representative in 
Congress. He was a merchant and a manufacturer. His wife was 
Mary Hopkins. The son, Charles Hopkins Clark, was born in Hart- 
ford, April 1st, 1848. 

Nearly all Hartford youths preparing for college go to the Hart- 
ford Public High School; it was particularly fitting that Mr. Clark 
should receive the benefits of this institution, which was founded 
almost simultaneously with the founding of the town and in which 
his forbears had had a deep interest. Entering Yale in 1867, he 
found the companionship of men who were destined to take high 
place in the world's affairs; he formed acquaintances which have 
grown more precious as the years go by, and the faith his college 
mates had in him has been amply confirmed. He was a member of 
the senior society of Skull and Bones. 

With the degree of M.A., in 1871, he began work at once on the 
staff of the Hartford Courant, the oldest newspaper of continuous 
existence in America. Charles Dudley Warner and Senator Joseph 
E. Hawley were part owners of the paper. After he had demonstrated 
his ability on the various "desks," he was made editor-in-chief and 
to-day is president of the Hartford Courant Company, General Arthur 
L. Goodrich and Frank E. Carey being associated with him in the 
business management. The story of the Courant in these later days 
has been the story of his life. Stalwart in its Eepublicanism, it is 
a journal rather than an organ and never hesitates to express its 
views frankly. Much of its power lies in the fact that these views 
are also the views, at once or ultimately, of that clientele of sturdy 
families in which the Courant has been held as next to the family 
Bible through generation after generation. 

Prominent in the counsels of his party and throwing himself 
with all his inexhaustible energy into whatever he believes makes for 



234 CHARLES HOPKINS CLAEK 

the public good, city, state, or national, he has clung closely to his 
ideal of an editor — one who should stand for the people in his paper, 
but not in public offices. It was only by the persuasion of many that 
he could be prevailed upon to accept the non-partisan position of 
delegate to the Connecticut Constitutional Convention in 1901. Pre- 
vious to that, his business acumen had been requisitioned by the State 
when the Tax Commission made its exhaustive investigation and 
published its valuable report. In private life, also, this acumen has 
been in demand as is evidenced by his directorship in the Collins Com- 
pany, a most successful manufacturing concern with name known 
around the world, and in the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 
Company, one of the country's best institutions. In addition he is 
called upon to serve as treasurer of the Wadsworth Atheneum and 
Hartford Public Library and as vice-president of the American 
School for the Deaf at Hartford, and his advice is sought also in the 
management of other organizations which do much to promote the 
welfare of his community. During his extensive travels, including 
the expedition to the Philippines with Secretary Taft's party in 1905, 
his letters have furnished information in delightful form, and he 
often is called upon to give others the benefit of the material he has 
accumulated. 

Mr. Clark's first wife was Ellen Eoot, whom he married in 
1873. After her death, he married Matilda C. Eoot in 1899, and 
their residence is at ISTo. 160 Garden Street. His son, Horace Bush- 
nell Clark, also a graduate of Yale and on the Courant staff, and his 
daughter, Mary Hopkins Clark, live with them. 

Eeference has been made to the valuable influence Mr. Clark has 
exerted upon others. This must include also his influence upon 
young men trying to get a start in life, the assistance he has rendered 
without his left hand knowing it, and the wise counsel he has 
imparted. 

In social life, no one more than he enjoys mingling with the 
"college boys," the ^T)usiness crowd," the "professional men" — all 
people who, like him, are keenly awake to the best the hour should 
furnish. He is a member of the University, Century, and Yale Clubs 
of New York, of the Hartford Club and of the Country Club of 
Farmington. A member of the Congregational Church, he attends 
the South Church, or, as it is familiarly called, "the Eev. Dr. E. P. 
Parker's Church." 



WILLIAM FRANKLIN HENNEY 

HENNEY, WILLIAM FRANKLIN, lawyer and mayor of 
Hartford, was born in Enfield, Hartford County, Con- 
necticut, November 2nd, 1852. His ancestry is Scottish 
on both sides, being traceable to John Henney, a Presbyterian clergy- 
man who came from Scotland and settled near Philadelphia in 1816, 
and to John Barclay, who came from Scotland to America some 
fifteen years later. Mayor Henney's father was John Henney, a 
mechanical engineer, a native of Paisley, Scotland, who came to Con- 
necticut about sixty 3'ears ago. He was superintendent of the Hartford 
Light and Power Company in 1865. He was a man physically power- 
ful, mentally strong, and morally courageous. The mayor's mother 
was Mene Barclay, a woman of equally great mental and moral 
strength. Her recitations of the old Scottish classics are among her 
son's earliest and fondest recollections, and probably had a great 
influence upon the formation of his decidedly literary bent of mind. 
Since his early boyhood he has always read omnivorously — poetry, 
science, history, philosophy, biography, Greek, Eoman, and English 
classics, and also the Bible, He had no regular work to do in his 
early youth and there was therefore ample time for the exercise of 
his studious inclinations. 

After preparing for college at the Hartford Public High School Mr. 
Henney entered Princeton University with the class of 1874 and took 
the degrees of B.A. and M.A. He then studied law with the Hon. 
H. C. Robinson and was admitted to the bar in 1876. He entered 
upon his legal profession with the double equipment of adequate 
training and natural mental powers, and his practice has been dis- 
tinguished and successful. The year following his admission to 
the bar be was made a member of the Hartford Common Council. 
He was clerk of the Hartford police court from 1877 to 1883 when 
he became judge of that court. He held that office until 1889 when 
he was made city attorney, remaining in that office two years and 
being reappointed to it in 1895. During the time he served his city 



236 WILLIAM FRANKLIN HENNEY 

as its attorney he conducted much important corporation litigation 
with the singular success that has characterized his professional work 
as a whole. In 1904 he was made mayor of the city he had served 
in so many official capacities, and he fills this his highest position 
with his usual judgment and capability. He has always upheld the 
principles of the Eepublican party with consistent loyalty. 

Judge Henney is prominent in many fraternal and social organi- 
zations, the chief among them being the Knights Templars, the Sphinx 
Temple, the Royal Arcanum, Scottish Clans, the Hartford Club, the 
Hartford Country Club, and the Twentieth Century Club. He is a 
Presbyterian in his religious views. His favorite sports are walking, 
riding, and boating, and he has been prepared for the utmost enjoy- 
ment of these by a thorough gymnasium training in physical culture. 

As a lawyer Judge Henney is placed high among the men of his 
profession for his clear-sightedness, his sagacity and eloquence, and 
his masterful success in his cases. As a public man he is honored 
for his astute judgment, his dignity, and his conscientious devotion to 
the state he serves. As a man he is admired for his cultured mind 
and clean, industrious, public-spirited life, and for many other 
qualities which make his advice to others of rare weight : "Cultivate 
a genuine public spirit — an interest in all the affairs of the city, state, 
and nation, an ardent love of country, a disposition neither to seek or 
shirk public office and, if it comes, a disposition to use it as an oppor- 
tunity for service and not for the salary it offers." 



JOHN RANSOM BUCK 

BUCK, JOHN RANSOM, a prominent lawyer of Hartford and a 
former member of Congress, was born in Glastonbury, Hart- 
ford County, Connecticut, December 6th, 1836. His father 
and mother were from old New England families. His father, Halsey 
Buck, was a Connecticut farmer, l-mown as a man of strong will, of 
industrious habits, and of firm convictions in religious and political 
affairs. His ancestors came to this country from England in 1694. 

Mr. Buck spent the early years of his life on his father's farm, 
where, by performing regular tasks of light manual labor, he developed 
a rugged constitution and habits of industry, which have aided him 
through life. Influenced by the careful guidance of his mother in 
early life, he acquired, and has always retained, a love of books. After 
attending the local country school, including a select school at East 
Glastonbury, he studied at Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Mas- 
sachusetts. Later he went for one year to Wesleyan University. In 
1877 this university conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. 
Like many young men of New England Mr. Buck began his active 
affairs of life as a school teacher. For several years he taught as 
principal in graded schools and academies. In 1859 he came to Hart- 
ford to study law in the office of Wells & Strong. In 1863 he was 
admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession 
at Hartford. He was associated with the Hon. Julius L. Strong, for- 
mer member of Congress, under the firm name of Strong & Buck; 
and upon the death of Mr. Strong, in 1872, he became associated 
with the Hon. Arthur F. Eggleston, states attorney for Hartford 
County, as a member of the firm of Buck & Eggleston. During his 
professional career he has been counsel for towns and other municipal 
corporations, and for railroad companies, fire and life insurance 
companies, and other corporations. During the Spanish-American 
War he was legal adviser of the Governor of Connecticut. He is 
a director in the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, of 
the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and of the 



238 JOHN RANSOM BUCK 

State Bank of Hartford ; he is also a trustee of the Wesleyan Academy 
of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. 

In his active and successful career in public life, Mr. Buck 
has always been associated with the Kepublican party. In 
1864, two years after he was admitted to the bar, he was elected 
assistant clerk of the Connecticut House of Eepresentatives. The 
next year he became clerk of the House, and one year later he was 
elected clerk of the State Senate. In 1868 he was president of the 
Hartford Court of Common Council, and from 1871 to 1873 he was 
attorney for the city. He was treasurer for Hartford County for 
eight years ending in 1881. In 1879 he was elected to the State 
Senate from the First District. As chairman of the committee on 
constitutional amendments he reported the amendment which pro- 
vided for the appointment of the judges of the Supreme Court of 
Errors and of the Superior Court by the General Assembly upon 
nomination of the governor, and he was largely instrumental in 
procuring its adoption. He took an active part in the establishment 
of the Court of Common Pleas in Hartford and New Haven Counties, 
and conducted the hearings before the committee of the General 
Assembly, which reported in favor of the measure. As chairman of 
the committee on corporations he reported the Joint stock law of 
1880, and was instrumental in securing its passage. He took an 
active part in procuring the passage of the laws making Hartford 
the sole capital, and providing for the construction of the new 
State House. In 1880 he was elected to the Forty-seventh Con- 
gress of the United States, and in 1884 he was elected to the Forty- 
ninth. While in Washington he served on the committee on Indian 
afTairs, on revision of laws, and on naval affairs. On this last 
committee he was especially active, and did much to bring about 
the construction of the new navy, which, years later, in the war 
with Spain, did such good service for the nation. After his second 
term in Congress Mr. Buck decided to retire from active public life 
and devote Ms time exclusively to his legal practice; but he still 
retains a deep interest in politics, and his advice is often sought and 
highly valued by the members of his party. In politics, as in law, 
he is regarded by his large circle of acquaintances as a safe and judi- 
cious counselor. He is by nature conservative, but also a man of posi- 
tive and courageous convictions. 



JOHN EANSOM BUCK 239 

On April 12th, 1865, Mr. Biick was married to Mary A. Keeney 
of Manchester. Their children are Florence K., the wife of Jacob H. 
Greene of Hartford, and John Halsey Buck, who graduated from 
Yale in 1896 and is now a practicing lawyer at Hartford. 

His favorite forms of amusement are fishing, walking in the 
woods and fields, and reading. From the time he was a boy he has 
enjoyed reading history and good fiction. Dickens is his favorite 
author, and he has a vivid recollection of reading the speeches of 
Charles Sumner, as they were published in the newspapers of the 
time. 



LOUIS RICHMOND CHENEY 

CHENEY, COL. LOUIS RICHMOND, treasurer of the Austin 
Organ Company, silk manufacturer, real estate man, and a 
military man of high rank, was born in the village so closely 
identified with his family — South Manchester, Hartford County, 
Connecticut, April 27th, 1859. His parents were George Wells 
Cheney and Harriet Kingsbury Richmond Cheney. His father was con- 
nected with the well known firm of Cheney Brothers, extensive manu- 
facturers of silk goods, and was a man of activity and prominence 
in his town. He was justice of peace and chairman of the town 
committee and a most benevolent and useful citizen. Going farther 
back in the study of Colonel Cheney's ancestry we find such dis- 
tinguished names as those of Elder Brewster, John Alden, Governor 
Thomas Prince, Governor Haines, and Governor Wyllis, names as 
prominent as the Cheneys are in the industrial life of the present 
day. 

Louis R. Cheney was brought up in the "ideal manufacturing 
town" of South Manchester, in an atmosphere of progress and 
industry that could not fail to engender ambition in a healthy, active 
boy like himself. He was chiefly interested in mechanics and horses 
and in reading the standard works of the time. Though it was not 
necessary for him to go to work until he had secured a good education 
he was taught to be useful and had certain duties to perform daily. 
He attended the private and public schools of his native town and 
then took the course at the Hartford Public High School, graduating 
in 1879. He then entered the family mills in South Manchester to learn 
the business of silk manufacturing. After three years in the home 
mills, he spent seven years in the Cheney factory in Hartford as 
superintendent and four years at the store in New York, during 
which period he had charge of the Philadelphia branch of the business 
from 1889 to 1893, when he returned to Hartford, which he has 
since made his home and the center of his chief business interests. 
Colonel Cheney, for such has been his rank in military service, 



LOUIS RICHMOND CHENEY 241 

was assistant quarter-master general of Connecticut in 1895 and 
1896 on Governor Coffin's staff and, in 1898, was unanimously- 
elected commandant of the First Company Governor's Foot Guard, 
serving until 1903, when he went on the retired list on account of 
increasing business demands. He is a member of the Military Order 
of Foreign Wars, of the Society of Colonial Wars, and of the Sons 
of the American Eevolution. He also belongs to many other societies 
besides these military and patriotic orders, and the enumeration of 
these social ties is a further proof of the breadth of his interests. 
He is a member and former president of the Hartford Club, a member 
and ex-secretary of the Eepublican Club of Hartford, a member of 
the Hartford Golf Club and the Farmington Country Club, of the 
Players Club of 'New York and the Princess Anne Club of Virginia. 
He is a trustee of the American School for the Deaf, a member of the 
executive committee of the Hartford Hospital, and a director of the 
Connecticut River Banking Company. He was an alderman of 
Hartford for two years and a member of the Board of Common 
Council for five years. He is also a member of the National Geo- 
graphic Society and of the National Civil Service Reform League. 

Mary A. Robinson, whom Colonel Cheney married on April 16th, 
1890, is a great-great-granddaughter of Governor Trumbull. One 
child, a daughter, has been bom of this marriage. Their home is 
at 40 Woodland Street, Hartford. 

The words of a man who has earned so many high places and 
filled them with such marked capability should have great weight 
with those seeking a practical precept for their own course in life. 
Colonel Cheney says, "Be ambitious, industrious, and persistent and 
don't let the word 'failure' be known." 



MAX ADLER 

ADLEE, MAX, one of the foremost citizens and manufac- 
turers of New Haven, where he has lived since very early 
boyhood, is a native of Germany and was born in Berkund- 
stadt, Bavaria, on October 14th, 1840. His mother was Barbetta 
Adler and his father, Sigismund Adler, was the proprietor of a woolen 
business in Berkundstadt, who met with financial reverses in the old 
country and came, in 1841, to seek his fortune in the United States. 
After living two years in New York City he came to New Haven, 
where he established an umbrella business. Max was one of the most 
active boys in his adopted city, earning money after school hours, at 
the age of ten, as errand and cash boy. He attended the public 
schools in the morning and in the afternoon studied German and 
Hebrew. Later he attended the Lancastrian School and graduated 
from the Webster School. At thirteen be became a cash boy in a 
fancy goods store and within five years was in turn, cashier, bookkeeper 
and manager of the store. The business was closed out and young 
Mr. Adler then spent two years in New York in charge of the re- 
tail dry goods house of William Freedman, who, in 1860, removed to 
New Haven, retaining Mr. Adler as manager. 

In 1862 Mr. Adler, having developed the business with remark- 
able rapidity, left to become manager of a similar store for Isaac 
Strouse, who later purchased the corset business of J. H. Smith & 
Company, removing the factory to a much larger one at Oak and 
West Streets. The company became I. Strouse & Company, with Mr. 
Adler as a member of the firm; — the creation of this firm was an 
important step in the development of the corset business, which grew 
rapidly, and is now the firm of Strouse, Alder & Company, conduct- 
ing one of the largest industries in New Haven, occupying the ex- 
tensive factories equipped with the most modem labor-saving devices 
and employing two thousand people. The concern has warehouses 
in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, and its goods are marketed 
all over the world. Mr. Adler is regarded as one of the founders of 
the corset business in New England and one of the leading corset 



i 



MAX ADLER 245 

manufacturers in the world, being considered an authority in all the 
details of the business. He was at one time secretary of the Corset 
Makers' Association of the United States and has been active in bring- 
ing about legislation in the interests of the corset industry, in behalf 
of which he has frequently appeared before Congressional committees 
in Washington. 

There are many other institutions and enterprises that engage 
Mr. Adler's interest and attention. He is a director in the First 
National Bank, the New Haven Trust Company, the Mercantile 
Trust Company, the New Haven Water Company, the South- 
ern New England Telephone Company, the Hebrew Benevolent 
Society and the General Hospital Society of Connecticut. He is a 
trustee of the National Savings Bank, and a former president of the 
New Haven Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Young 
People's Hebrew Association, president of the Harmonic Club, presi- 
dent of the Congregation Mishlian Israel, chairman of the advisory 
committee of the United Workers of New Haven, director in the Organ- 
ized Charities Association, director of the New Haven County Anti- 
Tuberculosis Association and a manager of the New Haven Dispen- 
sary. In politics he is an ardent Eepublican. In 1903 Governor 
Chamberlain appointed him on the commission to investigate means 
and methods of industrial and technical education; he has served on 
the New Haven Board of Education, was a member of the State Com- 
mission to the Atlanta Exposition and the Tennessee Exposition and 
is now president of the Paving Commission. He is a man of great 
social popularity and is a member of the Union League Club, the New 
Haven Yacht Club and of the Quinnipiack Club of New Haven. 

In 1866 Mr. Alder married Esther Myers and is the father of 
three children: a son, Frederick M. Adler, married Sophie Green- 
specht; Flora V. Ullman, wife of Col. I. M. Ullman, and Miriam A. 
Weil, wife of A. E. Weil, attomey-at-law, residing in Denver, Colo- 
rado. Frederick and Colonel Ullman are partners in the business and 
reside in New Haven. Their winter home is on Wooster Square, 
New Haven, and their summer home is at Savin Eock, on the Sound. 
Though born across the water Mr. Adler is an intensely loyal and 
useful American citizen, who never fails to use his ability, wealth 
and position in the most public spirited manner. His career has 
been that of a capable, energetic and eminently successful business 
man and of a generous, patriotic and dutiful citizen. 



A. PARK HAMMOND 

HAMMOND, A. PARK, treasurer of the New England Com- 
pany, woolen manufacturers, president of the Roekville 
National Bank and in many other ways a prominent citizen 
of Roekville, was born in Vernon, Tolland County, Connecticut, June 
24th, 1835. He is descended from Thomas Hammond, who was one 
of the followers of William the Conqueror, when he invaded England, 
and whose name appears on the Battle Abbey Roll, and from a later 
Thomas Hammond, who came from Lavenham, England, to Hingham, 
Massachusetts, in 1636. Mr. Hammond's father was Allen Hammond, 
a woolen manufacturer and a man who devoted much time and energy 
to promoting the growth of business and religion in his native town. 
Mr. Hammond's mother was Ona Park Hammond, and her share in 
shaping his character and life plans was an important one. 

After acquiring the education afforded by the public schools of 
Roekville, Mr. Hammond attended a private school in Ellington and 
later took a course in a polytechnic school. He then began his 
experience in the manufacturing business in the employ of the New 
England Company of Roekville. After spending four years in the 
manufacturing department he was taken into the office to learn the 
financial and clerical side of the business. In 1879 he became 
treasurer of the company, the position which his father had held for 
twenty-five years. 

During the Civil War Mr. Hammond was a member of Company 
D, 14th Connecticut Volunteers, having been captain in the state 
militia previous to 1861. He commanded a company at the Battle 
of Antietam, and this won his membership in the Burpee Post, G. A. 
R. He is also a member of the Army and Navy Club of Connecti- 
cut. 

Business and military interests, though engaged in with 
thoroughness and success, have not been the only ones in Mr. Ham- 
mond's life. He is a consistent Republican and has held public 
office several times. He represented the town of Vernon in the Gren- 



A. PAKK HAMMOND 247 

eral Assembly in 1869, and was in the common council of Rock- 
ville for three years. He was city alderman in 1895-6. Mr. Ham- 
mond has many strong fraternal ties. He is a Mason, a Knight 
Templar, Washington Commandery No. 1, and a Shriner. He is a 
Congregationalist in his religious affiliations. 

Mr. Hammond has been twice married. His first wife, whom he 
married in 1859, was Lois Cone Bissell. She died in 1872, leaving 
three children. Mr. Hammond's present wife was Augusta S. Bissell. 

The extent to which Mr. Hammond has made his life count is 
shown in his responsible part in the industrial and financial life of 
his community. In addition to being treasurer of the N"ew England 
Company and president of the Eockville National Bank he is presi- 
dent of the Eockville Water and Aqueduct Company, formerly treas- 
urer of the Eockville Eailroad and president of the Eockville Building 
and Loan Association. He has followed his father's example in the 
zealous promotion of public welfare as completely as he has in the 
attainment of personal success. 



WILLIAM MAXWELL 

MAXWELL, WILLIAM, secretary and treasurer of the Spring- 
ville Manufacturing Company of Eockville, Tolland County, 
Connecticut, was born in that town, December 7th, 1862. 
The Maxwell family is of very old Scotch-Irish stock, and 
their first American ancestor was Hugh Maxwell, who came to Amer- 
ica in 1733. He participated conspicuously in the French and Indian 
War, and in the Eevolution; he was in action at Lake George and 
at Fort William Henry when Montcalm besieged it, and was one of 
the prisoners taken at that time. During the Revolution he was 
lieutenant of a company of minute men, who took part in the "Boston 
Tea Party," was wounded at Bunker Hill and was of the original 
thirteen men of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. Mr. 
Maxwell's father was George Maxwell, a woolen manufacturer, treas- 
urer and later president of the New England Company and treas- 
urer and president of the Hockanum Company. He was a man of 
strongly religious temperament and of generous public spirit. Mr. 
Maxwell has never married and has made his home with his mother, 
Harriet Kellogg Maxwell, for the greater part of his life. 

The schools of Eockville furnished Mr. Maxwell's early educa- 
tion until 1881, when he entered Yale University. During his college 
course he devoted some time to athletics, and was a prominent Yale 
athlete of that period. He was a member of the Mott Haven Athletic 
Team and made a very good record as a bicycle rider. He became a 
member of the college fraternity Psi Upsilon. After graduating 
from Yale in 1885 he went West and spent several months in North 
Dakota, before settling down to his life work, the manufacturing 
business. 

Upon his return to Eockville Mr. Maxwell entered the Spring- 
ville Manufacturing Company, and when the company was reorgan- 
ized he became its secretary and assistant treasurer. After his 
father's death he succeeded to the responsible position of treasurer of 



WILLIAM MAXWELL 249 

the company. He is also a director in the Hockanum Company, the 
New England Company, the Eockville Building and Loan Associa- 
tion, the Aqueduct Company, the Eockville National Bank, 
and the savings bank of Eockville. He by no means con- 
fines his interest to the industrial and financial affairs of the 
community, for he has been city assessor, he is secretary of the Eock- 
ville Public Library, a member of the High School Committee and he 
has been clerk of the Union Ecclesiastical Society at Eockville. In 
creed he is a Congregationalist, and in political faith a Eepublican. 

Though still a young man, comparatively speaking, Mr. Max- 
well has been highly successful in business and has made his mark 
creditably and permanently in the industrial history of his time. 
The name of Maxwell bears an enviable reputation for integrity, 
enterprise and public spirit, a reputation that has had ample con- 
firmation in Mr, William Marw^ell. 



PIERCE NOBLE WELCH 

WELCH, PIEECE NOBLE, president of the First National 
Bank, New Haven, of the Bristol Brass Company and vice- 
president of the Bristol Manufacturing Company, was born 
in Plainville, Hartford County, Connecticut, June 27th, 1841. His 
ancestors on his father's side were of Scotch-Irish stock and his mater- 
nal ancestors were English. His father was Harmanus Madison 
Welch, a banker and manufacturer and a man who held many public 
offices. He was mayor of New Haven, town and city treasurer, pres- 
ident of the board of education and a member of the State Assembly 
as both senator and representative. He was a man who gave strict 
and constant attention to both public and private business. His wife, 
Mr. Welch's mother, was Antoinette Pierce Welch, a woman of power- 
ful influence for good. 

The greater part of ]\Ir. Welch's boyhood was spent in New Haven, 
where he attended the Eussell Military School in preparation for his 
college course at Yale University. He graduated from Yale in 1862 
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and then went abroad for still fur- 
ther study, which he carried on at Berlin and Gottingen for two years, 
but as he did not complete the course this work led to no other degree. 

Returning to America Mr. Welch began his business life in New 
York City, where he was made a partner in a wholesale grocery house. 
In 1870 he became treasurer of the New Haven Rolling Mill Com- 
pany, a position which he held for twenty years. Inheriting his 
father's enterprise and sagacity he has won success that has been 
marked and rapid. He has been president of the First National Bank 
of New Haven since 1889, and in addition to this office he now holds 
the presidency of the Bristol Brass Company, is vice-president of 
the Bristol Manufacturing Company, and he is a director in the New 
Haven Clock Company. In 1892 Mr. Welch presented Yale University 
with a fine dormitory building, Welch Hall, erected in the memory of 
his father at the cost of $125,000. 

A modest, unostentatious and conservative man, Mr. Welch is 





C^L^JZ 




:" la 




PIERCE NOBLE WELCH 253 

nevertheless as prominent socially as he is in business. In college he 
was a member of the senior society of Wolfs Head and of the Alpha 
Delta Phi fraternity. He is a member of the Eeform Club and the 
Yale Club of New York, and of the Graduates' Club of New Haven. 
He has been a generous promoter of many important charitable and 
philanthropic movements, and has made large contributions to the 
Young Men's Christian Association of New Haven, of which he is 
now the president. He is a member of the Baptist Church. In 
politics he is a Democrat, but he voted twice for McKinley on the gold 
issue. 

On February 28th, 1867, Mr. Welch married Emma Cornelia 
Galpin, by whom he is the father of five children : Pierce N. Welch, 
Jr., B.A. Yale, 1898, treasurer of the Peck Brothers & Company of 
New Haven, Connecticut; Mrs. Cornelius W. Gains; Mrs, Ella W. 
Graves, B.A., 1895; Mrs. Hilda W. Gross, B.A., 1901, and Miss 
Cora D. Welch, B.A., 1904, all of Vassar. 

The happy union of culture and business sense, of wealth and 
generosity, of success and modesty, has made Pierce Noble Welch one 
of the most admirable as well as one of the most prominent men in 
his community. His responsible business positions and his substantial 
public gifts embody the greatness of his mind and of his heart. 



ALVAH NORTON BELDING 

B ELDING, ALVAH NOETON", one of the most prominent and 
progressive silk manufacturers in the country, was bom in 
Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, March 27th, 1838. 
He is descended from an old and historic New England family, and 
bears a name well known in the industrial world. 

Going back six generations from Mr. Belding we find William 
Belding, who was one of the earliest settlers at Wethersfield, Con- 
necticut. His son Daniel was a man of historic fame in the town 
of Deerfield, Massachusetts. On September 16th, 1696, during King 
William's War, the greater part of his family was either killed or 
captured in the encounter with the Indians in that town. Daniel 
Belding was made prisoner and taken captive to Canada. John Belding, 
grandson of Daniel, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. 
Hiram, his son, and the father of Alvah N. Belding, the subject of 
this biography, was born at Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1802, in the 
old Belding homestead. His occupation was first school teacher, then 
farmer and merchant. His wife, Mr. Belding's mother, was Mary 
Wilson, a woman of strong Christian character and gentle disposition, 
who created in her home an ideal family life, teaching her sons the 
great lesson of obedience. 

The boy, Alvah N. Belding, spent his youth in the country town of 
Ashfield, acquiring his education in the public and high schools of that 
town. His physical condition was good, and he was not afraid to work. 
At sixteen he spent a season selling Jewelry on the road, with great suc- 
cess. This created a taste for mercantile business, which was to deter- 
mine his career. In 1855, when Mr. Belding was seventeen years of 
age, his father moved his household to Otisco, Michigan, where he pur- 
chased a large tract of unfilled land. The pioneer family set to work 
to cultivate and farm this land, and thus started the town of Belding, 
Michigan. Alvah N. Belding joined with the others in the persistent 
labor of cultivating their farm, until the store was erected in which his 
father conducted mercantile business until his death in 1866, but Mr. 



ALVAH NORTON BELDINQ 255 

Belding was more interested in trade than in agriculture, and when 
his labors were no longer needed on the farm, he engaged in the 
business of selling silk. 

With his brother, H. H. Belding, he formed a partnership known 
as Belding Brothers just before the opening of the Civil War. In 
1863, they opened a store in Chicago, and started a silk factory in 
Rockville, Connecticut, of which Mr. Belding was made manager. 
Through his enterprise, this business has grown until it requires the 
employment of five hundred hands to turn out its silk threads and 
fabrics. He established a plant in Montreal for the manufacture of 
ribbons, and in 1877, planned and built another in Belding, Massa- 
chusetts, which was afterwards sold to a syndicate in which Mr. 
Belding became a prominent stockholder. Later he built still another 
mill in Belding, Michigan, which has been a very great factor in the 
growth and importance of that town. There are now six of these mills, 
personally supervised by Mr. Belding, and built from his planning. 
In these mills over three thousand people find employment, and a 
ton of raw silk is utilized daily, with an annual product of $5,000,000. 
In 1883 the entire business was reorganized and incorporated under 
the laws of the State of Connecticut. The corporation has sales- 
rooms and agencies all over the United States, and has developed 
with wonderful steadiness and rapidity. This prosperity and growth 
are largely due to the rare executive ability and energy of Mr. Belding, 
who fills the responsible positions of vice-president and secretary of 
the corporation, and has the entire management of the mills at Rock- 
▼ille, where he has made his home since 1869. 

In 1870, the year after he went to Rockville to live, Mr. Belding 
married Lizzie Smith Merrick. Three children have been born to 
them, of whom two are now living, Florence M. and Frederick N. 
Mr. Belding is a popular and active citizen of Rockville, and bears 
an important part in its prosperity. His numerous business positions 
and duties make it impossible for him to accept many other offices, 
but he is a staunch Republican, and represented his town in the 
Connecticut Legislature in 1882, being elected by a very large 
majority. 

Though not devoted to athletics, Mr. Belding is fond of driving a 
good horse, and has always been vigorous and active. As a business 
man he is prompt, capable and systematic. As vice-president and 



256 ALVAH NORTON BELDING 

secretary of Belding Brothers & Company, president of the Belding 
Land and Improvement Company of Belding, Michigan, and director 
of the Belding Paul Co., Montreal, Canada, of the Carlson Curvier 
Company of San Francisco, of the Spenser Electric Light and Power 
Company of Belding, Michigan, of the savings hank of that town, of 
the American Mills Company of Rockville, Connecticut, and of the 
national and savings banks of Eockville, Mr. Belding proves him- 
self indeed a successful "captain of industry," whose youthful ambi- 
tion to succeed has been admirably fulfilled in the mature man. 



I 



I 



BURTON GOULD BRYAN 

BEYAK, BURTON GOULD, president of the Fourth National 
Bank of Waterbury, was born in Watertown, Litchfield County, 
Connecticut, September 27th, 1846. His father was Edward 
Bryan, a Connecticut farmer, noted for his integrity, industry, and 
Christian spirit. His first American ancestor was Alexander Bryan, 
who came from England in 1693 and was one of several settlers who 
bought the town of Milford from five Indians for six coats, ten 
blankets, one kettle, twelve hatchets and hoes, two dozen knives, and a 
dozen small glasses. 

Young Bryan lived on a farm until he was about eighteen, thus 
laying the foundation of good health and a strong character, which 
were to compensate him for the slight schooling he was able to ac- 
quire while engaged in farm work. While yet a country boy he deter- 
mined to be a banker, and at the age of eighteen, and after three 
months at a business school, he began the active work of life as a 
bookkeeper in a real estate office in Waterbury. By being strictly 
honest, truthful, and faithful to his duty, and by always doing his 
best, the real estate bookkeeper finally realized his ambition of 
becoming a bank president. The steps by which he rose were secretary 
and bookkeeper of the Naugatuck Woolen Company, cashier of the 
Freedman's Savings and Trust Company at Wilmington, North 
Carolina, teller of the Manufacturers' National Bank, organizer, 
cashier, and, in 1889, president of the Fourth National Bank of 
Waterbury. 

Mr. Bryan was at one time clerk of the Board of Common Council, 
for twenty years he has been treasurer of the Second Congregational 
Church, and was town treasurer for two years. He is prominent in 
Masonic circles, having held every position up to the Commandery 
and having received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. 
In politics he has always been a Republican. He is an Odd Fellow, 
and a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the Waterbury Golf 
Club. He is an enthusiastic golf player and finds in the game his 



358 BURTON GOULD BRYAN" 

most enjoyable form of amusement and relaxation from business 
cares. 

In 1868 he was married to Fannie K. Peck. They have had two 
children, one of whom, Wilbur P. Bryan, cashier of the Fourth 
National Bank, is living. Mr. Bryan's advice to young men who wish 
to succeed in life is : "Be honest, truthful, faithful to duty, and 
always do your best." 



CHARLES HUGH LOUNSBURY 

LOUNSBURY, CHARLES HUGH, president of the Stam- 
i ford Savings Bank, senior member of the firm of Lounsbury 
& Soule, manufacturers, was born in Stamford, Fairfield 
County, Connecticut, August 19th, 1839. His ancestors were Eng- 
lish and came to America before the Revolution. In the struggle 
for independence, they fought on the side of the Colonists, Mr. 
Lounsbury's father was George Lounsbury, a farmer of marked indus- 
try and integrity, who served his townsmen as selectman, assessor, 
and representative in the General Assembly. His mother was Louisa 
Scofield Lounsbury, a woman who exerted a strong moral and spirit- 
ual influence on her family. 

A robust farmer boy and fond of all out-of-door sports, Mr, 
Lounsbury spent a busy youth. He worked with his father on the 
farm outside of school hours until he was sixteen, and learned during 
these boyhood days the lessons of honesty, industry, and economy, 
which his father was so well fitted to teach, and which laid the 
foundation for his own success in life. After acquiring such educa- 
tion as the public schools afforded Mr. Lounsbury began his life- 
long mercantile career in the business of shoe manufacturing, with the 
satisfaction of seeing his business constantly enlarge and his influence 
and usefulness in the community increase. At nineteen he entered 
into partnership with Scofield & Cook, which became Cook & 
Lounsbury in 1861, and was reorganized as Lounsbury & Soule, with 
Mr. Lounsbury as senior partner, in 1884. 

In politics Mr. Lounsbury is identified with the Republican party 
and he has held many public offices. He was a member of the old 
Borough Board, city councilman for two years, and president of the 
Stamford Board of Trade for five years. His prominence in public 
affairs is further proved by his being a hospital director, a bank 
director, secretary of the Gas and Electric Company, and president 
of the Stamford Savings Bank. Mr. Lounsbury is a Mason and a 
member of the Union Lodge, F. and A. M. He is a trustee of the 
Presbyterian Church of which he is a member. 



263 



CHAKLES HUGH LOUNSBUEY 



Mr. Lounsbury's greatest enjoyment in life is found in his business 
and in his home interests. In 1863 he married Anna Perry Samuel, 
and, of the four children born to them, there are three now living. 
Home influence and a strong desire for success have been the 
dominant forces in Mr. Lounsbury's profitable life. He attributes 
his success to the principles of industry, integrity, determination, and 
ambition inculcated when he was a boy on the farm by his father and 
mother. 



ELMORE SHERWOOD BANKS 

BANKS, ELMORE SHEEWOOD, lawyer. Judge of Probate of 
Fairfield, Connecticut, and for several terms a representative 
in the General Assembly, who was born in Fairfield, Connecti- 
cut, May 34th, 1866, is a descendant of John Banks, who came from 
England and settled in Fairfield about 1640 and was lieutenant, 
boundary commissioner, and in many ways a prominent public man 
of his day. Mr. Banks is the son of Simon Banks, a merchant and 
farmer, who was assessor and a member of the school board and a 
man whose most conspicuous traits were industry, persistence, and 
honesty. Hannah Dwyer Banks, his mother, died when he was but 
two years old, but his stepmother filled her place in his life and 
exerted the best of influences upon his character. 

Elmore Banks was a strong, robust, country boy, who delighted 
in athletics and particularly inclined to baseball. He was fond of 
reading and found the translations of Cicero and Virgil and the 
study of orations and oratorj^ his most helpful literature. He was 
able to secure a thorough education, though obliged to work during 
vacations in his father's store and on the farm. This early work 
inculcated habits of industry and economy that have been of lasting 
value. He attended the Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven 
and entered the academic department of Yale University with the 
class of 1888, but left during his sophomore year. He afterwards 
entered Yale Law School, where he was graduated in 1895. In 1890 
he taught school in Kentucky, where he met Beulah May Galloway, 
whom he married in April, 1898. From 1890 to 1893 he conducted 
a store, in 1894 he became town clerk of Fairfield, and in 1895 he 
was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. In 1896, 
the year after the opening of his legal career, Mr. Banks became 
Judge of Probate of Fairfield and he still holds this office. He has 
continued in the practice of law with success in the firm of Davenport 
& Banks of Bridgeport. He has been attorney for the town of Fair- 
field since 1896 and was attorney for the County Commissioners in 
1901. 



264 ELMORE SHERWOOD BANKS 

In politics Judge Banks is a Republican of great activity and promi- 
nence. He represented Fairfield in the General Assembly in 1901, 
1903, and 1905, and was leader of the House in 1903. During the 
session of 1901 he was chairman of the committee on insurance and 
ill 1903 and 1904 was chairman of the committee on judiciary 
and rules. He was also a member of the committee on the revision 
of Statutes. His favorite relaxation from business is in out-of-door 
sports such as baseball, horseback riding, rowing, hunting, and 
fishing. 

The law was Mr. Banks' own choice of a profession and he con- 
siders that the strongest encouragement and incentive in attaining 
success in that profession has been the influence of his wife. Of that 
success, which has been true success in every sense of the word, he 
says: "I have had to work hard for all 1 have accomplished and, 
while that has been but little, I am reasonably well satisfied with the 
results thus far achieved. Three things only are necessary to success — 
honesty, work, and fair ability. With these anyone in good health 
can succeed." 



WILLIE OLCOTT BURR 

IN 1861, Willie Olcott Burr was supplementing his common school 
education with a course in the Harris Private School for Boys, 
which was situated on Main Street in Hartford, about where 
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company's building now 
stands. His intention, promoted by his father, was to continue his 
education through college and round it out with a trip abroad. But 
education of a sterner kind and such as few young men are privileged 
to receive was to come to him. He would have preferred to have the 
academic course first, and he himself never considers his life well 
rounded because of lack of it, but the grim events at the outbreak 
of the Civil War claimed his faculties and shaped a life career for 
which Connecticut history is grateful. On May 13th, 1861, following 
the attack on Fort Sumter, Mr. Burr was at his father's side in the 
editorial rooms of the Hartford Times. 

It was a small establishment compared with its present splendid 
proportions, on the very same corner of Grove and Main streets now 
occupied by it. The post ofSce was on the ground floor of the corner, 
where the business office of the paper now is; the Times had rooms 
above and a small building to the rear where the mechanical depart- 
ment's plant stands to-day. Mr. Burr's father, Alfred Edmond Burr, 
— the stalwart man who had been editor of the paper for twenty years 
already and who long since had been recognized as a tremendous 
force in the affairs of the Democratic party and in what makes for 
civic welfare, — and Mr. Burr's uncle, Franklin L. Burr, the sole 
partner, had few men around them then to handle and pass on to the 
eager public the news which those feverish days so quickly began 
to make as never before. An opportunity even greater than could then 
be estimated, it was more than that; it was Mr. Burr's call of duty 
to go into the newspaper office. 

As the paper grew and the work was systematized, he became head 
of the city department and occupied other responsible positions in 
turn. In 1890, when old age began to make the cares of management 



366 WILLIE OLCOTT BUER 

onerous for the father, the son relieved him of the most of his 
burden, and in 1894 the father made over the whole great property 
and entrusted it to the son. Mr. Burr, the elder, died on January 
8th, 1900, serene in the consciousness of the success of his paper and 
of the maintenance of its sixty years' standard by his son. 

To be the head of a large newspaper precludes the possibility of 
his mingling in other affairs, however strong the call from his 
fellow citizens. Such a career is known and felt by the people, but 
rather in an impersonal way; it is the paper they see and not the 
"man behind" it, outside of the immediate circle of home. One 
appointment he did accept, and from a Republican governor, and 
that was to a position on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut 
State Prison. Governor Lorrin A. Cooke appointed him in 1897, 
when important work was to be done. 

Mr. Burr was born September 27th, 1843. May, 1906, saw the 
completion of forty-five years of effective but impersonal public work 
on his paper. He comes of a family that has held high place since 
Hartford's beginning. Three of his ancestors were among the 
original proprietors of the town. Benjamin, the progenitor of the 
Hartford branch of the family, was one of the founders in 1635 
and an original proprietor in 1639. From him Willie Olcott Burr 
is descended through Thomas, Thomas (2), James and Alfred Ed- 
mond Burr, whose wife was Sarah A., wife of Abner Booth of 
Meriden. On his grandmother's side he is descended from Thomas 
Olcott, also an original proprietor in Hartford in 1639, a merchant, 
and one of the founders of the trade and commerce of the Colony 
of Connecticut. The line of descent is through Samuel, Thomas 
(2), Joseph, Joseph (2), and Lucretia (Olcott) Burr, wife of James. 

Mr. Burr was married May 21st, 1874, to Miss Angle L. Lincoln 
of Upton, Massachusetts. They have one daughter, Florence Lin- 
.coln Burr. 



EDWIN OLMSTEAD KEELER 

KEELER, EDWm OLMSTEAD, president of the Fairfield 
County National Bank, of the Southern New England Whole- 
sale Grocery Association, of the Norwalk Club Company, and 
otherwise prominent in business and finance, was born at Ridgefield, 
Fairfield County, Connecticut, January 12th, 1846. He is of English 
descent, his first ancestor in America being Ralph Keeler, who came 
from the mother country to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1640. Mr. 
Keeler's grandmother, Anne Belden Olmstead, was the daughter 
of Azar Belden, born 1749, who was an officer in the Revolutionary 
War. His father was Jonah Charles Keeler, a prosperous farmer. 
His mother, Henrietta Keeler, died when he was but seven years old. 
Unlike most country boys Mr. Keeler had a delicate constitution, 
but the judicious use of physical culture and the determination to 
make the most of his strength partially overcame the obstacle of ill 
health, and Mr. Keeler's life has been an unusually full and active 
one. His early home life was simple and wholesome, for the Bible 
was the dominant influence and the principal field of study in the 
Keeler homestead. Mr. Keeler was educated at William 0. Sey- 
mour's private school in Ridgefield, and, after an eight years' course 
there, attended the New Haven Business College, where he was 
graduated in 1865. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Keeler went to 
New York to work as a bookkeeper. Three years later, in May, 1868, 
he married Sarah Velina Whiting, by whom he has had two children, 
Inez Rosaline and Rutherford Ballau, 

Returning from New York Mr. Keeler settled in ITorwalk and 
engaged in the wholesale grocery business, and was gradually pro- 
moted from bookkeeper to president of the company. Besides his 
responsible positions as president of the Norwalk Club Company, the 
Southern New England Wholesale Grocery Association, and the 
Fairfield National Bank, Mr. Keeler is also president of the Norwalk 
Steamboat Company, vice-president of the South Norwalk Trust 
Company, and director in several other corporations. 



268 EDWIN OLMSTEAD KEELEE 

Mr. Keeler, who is a devoted Republican, has been as active and as 
prominent in politics as he has in business. He was the first mayor 
of the city of jSTorwalk, serving from 1894 to 1895. He represented 
the town of Norwalk in the State Legislature during 1893 and 1895, 
and was senator from the thirteenth district in 1897 and 1899 and 
lieutenant governor from 1901 to 1903. 

Business and politics have by no means been the only interests in 
Mr. Keeler's life. He is an active worker in the Congregational 
Church and has been chairman of the committee of the First Con- 
gregational Church of Norwalk for twenty-five years. He is both a 
Mason and an Odd Fellow and in the latter order he has held the 
chair of Noble Grand. Mr. Keeler is also a member of the Norwalk 
Club. 



CHARLES SANGER MELLEN 

M ELLEN. CHARLES SANGEE, president of the New York, 
New Haven and Hartford Eailroad, was born in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, August 16th, 1851, the son of George K. 
and Hannah M. (Sanger) Mellen. His father was a country mer- 
chant. His ancestors emigrated from England in 1630 and settled in 
Watertown, Massachusetts. 

President Mellen passed the early years of his life in the city of 
Concord, New Hampshire, where he attended the grammar and high 
schools, and was graduated from the latter in 1869. After leav- 
ing the high school, he was forced to earn a living for himself and 
those dependent upon him, and at the age of eighteen he entered 
railway service as a clerk in the cashier's office of the Northern New 
Hampshire Railroad, at Concord. Thus by mere chance, or from 
circumstances over which he had no control, he entered a field of 
work in which he was destined to win for himself wealth, infiuence, 
and a national reputation. It might also he said that be gained his 
health in the railway service, for until after he had been in this 
occupation for several years he had always had a frail constitution. 
To-day he declares that railroad affairs are his sport, his amusement, 
his chief form of exercise, and his best method of relaxation from the 
cares of life. His marked success in the railroad world is no doubt 
due in a large measure to the fact that he has always thrown his 
entire heart and soul into his work. 

After remaining in the Concord ofifice for nearly three years, he 
went to St. Albans, Vermont, to become clerk to the chief engineer 
of the Central Vermont Railroad. After several months in this posi- 
tion he returned to the employ of the Northern New Hampshire 
Railroad, serving for seven years respectively as clerk, cashier, chief 
clerk, and assistant treasurer. By this time he commenced to have 
an intelligent grasp of many phases of railroad management. In 
1880 he became assistant to the manager of the Boston and Lowell 
Railroad. Although he retained this position but one year, even in 



273 CHARLES SANGER MELLEN 

that short time he worked out a plan for abolishing the grade crossings 
north of Boston and for consolidating the terminals of all the 
northern railroads. His next position was that of auditor for the 
Boston and Lowell and the Concord railroads. In 1888 he resigned 
this position to enter the service of the Union Pacific System as pur- 
chasing agent. Several months later he was promoted to assistant 
general manager; and in several months more he was appointed 
general traffic manager. The four years during which he managed the 
traffic of the Union Pacific earned for him a national reputation as 
an able "traffic man." In 1892 he was offered and accepted the 
position of general manager of the New York and New England Eail- 
road. He served here only a few months when he was induced 
to accept the second vice-presidency of the New York, New Haven 
and Hartford Railroad. For five years he remained in this position, 
gaining in experience and adding to his reputation. When 
in 1897 he became president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the 
people of New England were as sorry to lose his valuable services 
as the Northern Pacific was anxious to gain them. Commenting on 
his election as president of the Northern Pacific, the New Haven 
Register of Augiist 28nd, said : "It is due reward to a man who has 
worked his way up from the bottom of the ladder and has met with 
success by hard and conscientious work." Said the Boston Herald 
of about the same date: "The selection of Mr. Mellen is pleasing 
to the people of New England, where he had been long and favorably 
known. Mr. Mellen has not the easiest task to manage a property 
with a history like that of the Northen Pacific road, but his dis- 
interestedness may harmonize all factions." According to the New 
York Times: "Mr. Mellen is one of the best equipped and most ex- 
perienced railroad men in the United States." The New York World 
declared that his retirement from the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Road was almost "an official calamity." "C. S. Mellen," de- 
clared the Hartford Post, "will fill the office of president of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad acceptably, being a railroad man of great 
ability and wide experience. The "Consolidated" will miss his ser- 
vices, which have contributed materially to the improvements made 
in the Connecticut railroad during the past few years." President 
E. B. Thomas of the Erie Railroad, and director in the Northern 
Pacific, declared : "I can heartily indorse the selection of Mr. Mellen. 



I 



CHAELES SANGER MELLEN 273 

He is a strong, capable man of long experience in every way and 
thoroughly equipped for the position." 

For six years Mr. Mellen remained president of the Northern 
Pacific and, during this time, he fulfilled the most extravagant expec- 
tations of his friends. He converted a poorly built road into one 
of the best constructed systems of the country, and made its net 
earnings almost equal to its gross earnings at the time he took charge 
of the road. In 1903 he resigned from the presidency of the 
Northern Pacific and became president of the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Eailroad. This time it was the West that was 
sorry to lose, and New England that was proud to gain his services. 
"The Northern Pacific loses the best president it ever had;" and 
"The New Haven but honors herself in securing his services," seemed 
to be the consensus of opinion expressed at that time by the press 
throughout the country. 

Natural ability, energy, determination, wide experience, and an 
entire devotion to his work are the chief factors in President Mel- 
len's success. He is faithful to his friends, easily approachable, and 
absolutely independent. He had the courage to tell J. Pierpont Mor- 
gan that he would support President Eoosevelt for renomination, 
and that he had great respect for the President for doing his duty 
in attacking the Northern Securities' Merger in the courts. He 
recognizes worth, and despises sham, whether either quality be found 
in the smallest clerk or a railroad president. 

President Mellen has been twice married; first in 1875 to Marion 
Beardsley Foster, and again in 1893 to Katharine Lloyd Livingston, 
He has had eight children, six of whom are living. His home in 
New Haven is at No. 389 Whitney Avenue. He is not a member of 
any religious denomination. In politics he has always voted the 
Eepublican ticket. Ambitious young men who wish to imitate his 
successful career should heed his laconic advice: *^ork harder; 
spend less." 



JOHN WESLEY ALLING 

A LLING, JOHN WESLEY, one of the ablest and most promi- 
r\ nent lawyers in his State, was bom in the town of Orange, 
New Haven County, Connecticut, October 24th, 1841. His 
father was Charles Wjdlys Ailing, a New England farmer, and his 
mother was Lucy Booth, a women whose strong character had pow- 
erful influence in training her son. Charles Ailing was at times 
selectman and grand juror, and was also a sergeant of militia in 
the War of 1812. He was a man of thrift, energy, and independence, 
a man who owed no one a debt. Eoger Ailing, who came from Eng- 
land, and was one of the first settlers of tlie colony of New Haven in 
1638, is another and earlier ancestor; in fact the ancestor, in this 
country, of all who spell the name "Ailing" and of some who spell 
the name ''Allen." 

Mr. Alling's boyhood was spent on a country farm, where he 
led the life of a typical New England farmer's son. In the summers, 
"the working season," he toiled on the farm from sunrise till dark. 
In the winter he attended the district school. Endowed with perfect 
health the boy, John Ailing, was diligent in his farming and in read- 
ing all the books that came within his reach. He learned in these 
early days of his life the lesson of hard work and its blessings, and it 
is to the labor and companionship of the vigorous, healthy farm life 
that Mr. Ailing owes his gratitude for the strongest formative influ- 
ences of his life. These early influences instilled principles of per- 
severance and self-dependence that insured his success in his future 
work. He loved the busy, active farm life, but reading was his favor- 
ite pursuit. 

After outgrowing the district school, Mr. Ailing prepared at 
Wilbraham Academy for Yale University, and was graduated from 
that university with the class of 1862, of which class he was the salu- 
tatorian. From 1862 till 1864, he attended the Yale law school, 
earning the degree of Master of Arts in addition to his Bachelor 
degree. At the close of these two years of professional study, Mr. 



JOHN WESLEY ALLING 275 

Ailing entered immediately upon the practice of law, beginning his 
life work as a lawjTr in New Haven in September, 1864. This choice 
of a career was solely personal preference. 

On October 10, 1867, Mr. Ailing married Constance Adelaide 
Parker. To them three children have been born, of whom two are 
now living. From 1870-72, Mr. Ailing was prosecuting officer of New 
Haven, and this has been his only public office. He has held the 
responsible positions of director and counsel for the Southern New 
England Telephone Co., of the Security Insurance Co., of the United 
Illuminating Co. and of the Merchants' National Bank of New Haven 
for the last fifteen or twenty years, and has been counsel for many 
other important corporations. For fifteen years he was a vestryman of 
Trinity Church, New Haven, being a communicant and active mem- 
ber of the Prostestant Episcopal Church. In political faith Mr. Ailing 
is a Republican, though he voted for Mr. Cleveland the last time he 
was elected, as he, with many others, agreed with the Democratic 
platform on the tariff issue. 

Mr. Ailing bestows advice upon young men with reluctance born 
of a fear of its uselessness, but it is sound and weighty, giving, as it 
does, the keynote of his own success. "Whatever you undertake to 
do, that do with all the power there is in you, and never give up until 
you have to. Don't mind partial failure or mistakes or blunders. 
Everybody makes them. But get up and go at it again. I don't be- 
lieve that many persons with this spirit fail." 



THOMAS HOOKER 

HOOKEE, THOMAS, the president of the New Haven Trust 
Company, was born in Macon, Georgia, September 3rd, 1849, 
the son of Eichard Hooker, a clergyman, and Aurelia Dwight 
Hooker. He is a lineal descendant of the historic Thomas Hooker, 
whose part in early American history as a divine and as a Colonial 
settler and the founder of Connecticut is well known to every 
American. On the maternal side Mr. Hooker is descended from 
Jonathan Edwards, the famous early theologian, metaphysician, and 
philosopher, and also from John Dwight, who came from England 
to Dedham, Massachusetts, in Colonial days, and from Timothy 
Dwight, the honored president of Yale College from 1795 to 1817. 
The Thomas Hooker of to-day, although he was born in Georgia, 
came to New Haven at an early age, and has made his home in that 
city ever since. He prepared for college at the Hopkins Grammar 
School, and from there entered Yale University. He was graduated 
in 1869, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and has ever since 
kept in close touch with the venerable institution. He became con- 
nected with the banking interests of the city in 1895, and in 1903 was 
made vice-president of the First National Bank of New Haven- 
Later in the same year he became president of the New Haven Trust 
Company. For ten years from 1894 to 1904 he served on the board 
of education of the city of New Haven. 

On the 30th of June, 1874, Mr. Hooker married Sarah A. Bowles, 
the oldest daughter of the distinguished Samuel Bowles, the former 
editor of the Springfield Republican. Three children have been bom 
to Mr. and Mrs. Hooker, two of whom are now living; the oldest, 
Eichard, is connected with the Springfield Republican^ and is now 
acting as its special correspondent in Washington, while the younger, 
Thomas, Jr., is just completing his law studies. Mr. Hooker has 
devoted himself to business, and has no social or fraternal ties beyond 
the various clubs to which a man of his position would naturally 
belong. In religious views he unites with the Congregational Church. 



THOMAS HOOKER 277 

He has refrained from public honors and his only public service has 
been his membership of the school board. 

Mr. Hooker was a 'varsity baseball player in college, when that 
sport was in its infancy, and has ever since retained his love for 
wholesome outdoor recreation. This has kept him young in his 
feelings, and as keen as formerly in his sense of humor. 



HENRY CHARLES WHITE 

WHITE, HENEY CHAELES, lawyer and former lecturer at 
Yale University, of New Haven, Connecticut, was born in 
Utica, New York, September 1st, 1856. His father, Thomas 
Broughton White, was a merchant and his mother was Catharine 
Lydia Stewart White, a daughter of Samuel and Catharine Barton 
Stewart of Utica. Henry Charles White prepared for college at 
Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and then entered Yale 
University. He took his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1881 and then 
entered the Yale Law School, where he took his Bachelor of Laws 
degree in 1883 and his Master of Laws in 1884, He chose New 
Haven for the field of his professional work and opened a law office 
there in 1883, immediately after taking his law degree. From 1886 
to 1893 he lectured at Yale on political science. In 1893 he formed 
a partnership with Leonard M. Daggett for the practice of law and in 
1901 John Q. Tilson became a member of the firm, which is known 
as White, Daggett & Tilson. 

Although his practice has occupied him closely Mr. White has 
made a place for business and public interests and service. He 
served on legislative commissions in 1889, 1894-95 and from 1899 
to 1902. He was a member of the Board of Finance of the city of 
New Haven in 1897 and he is now a director in the First National 
Bank and in the New Haven Trust Company. In politics he is 
affiliated with the Eepublican party. His chief social and fraternal 
ties are membership in the Graduates Club of New Haven and in 
the Yale secret society of Skull and Bones. His religious convictions 
attach him to the Congi-egational Church. On the fifth of May, 
1903, Mr. White married Lucy Schwab, daughter of Gustav and 
Eliza von Post Schwab of New York. 

Henry Charles White has been described and is generally known as 
"a sound lawyer, a public spirited citizen, a close reader of serious 
literature, and a trusted adviser and counselor." 




Qj$>(^t5.-/>/^/0^ Xr^^cy^^^vW 



OEANGE MERWIN 

MERWIN, ORANGE, president of the Bridgeport Land and 
Title Company and vice-president of the Bridgeport Trust 
Company, was born in New Milford, Litchfield County, 
Connecticut, on August 21st, 1854. He is descended from good 
Colonial stock. Miles Merwin came to America from Wales in 1645 
and settled in Milford. John Peet, the first of his maternal ancestors 
to emigrate to America, reached Connecticut in 1635. His father, 
Horace, and his grandfather. Orange, were public spirited citizens. 
The former was a representative in the State House of Representatives 
for several terms and the latter was a member of Congress from Con- 
necticut from 1821 to 1825. 

Young Merwin's early life was spent on a farm where, under 
the direction of his parents, he developed those habits of industry 
and attention to detail that to-day characterize his business and social 
life. His school training was received in the public schools in New 
Milford and at the Golden Hill Institute in Bridgeport. At the age 
of sixteen he began to earn his own livelihood as a shipping clerk 
in Dabney Carr's Shirt Factory in Bridgeport. Later he became 
clerk in the People's Savings Bank, a position which he held for 
thirteen years, after which he became a member of the old banking 
firm of Marsh, Merwin & Lemmon. Since 1897 he has been presi- 
dent of the Bridgeport Land and Title Company and vice-president 
of the Bridgeport Trust Company since its organization, in 1901. 
He has been fire commissioner of the city for five years and is 
treasurer of the local Y, M. C. A. and of the Boys' Club. In politics 
he has always been a Republican; in the Masonic Order he has 
reached the thirty-second degree ; he is a member of the Congregational 
Church. He was president of the Bridgeport Republican Club for 
three years and is a member also of the Contemporary, of the Sea- 
side, and of the Rooftree and Seaside Outing clubs, and also of the 
Sons of Colonial Wars. Driving, fishing, and hunting are his 
favorite sports. 

In 1877 Mr. Merwin was married to Mary Clifford Beach. They 
have one child, Horace Beach Merwin. 



EUGENE LAMB RICHARDS 

PROFESSOR of Mathematics in Yale University" is the formal 
title of Eugene Lamb Richards. Equations with x and y, 
"ri^ unknown and variable quantities, are worked out of books and 
attested by mathematical apparatus, but there is a "personal 
equation" where x and y reveal themselves and are constant, attested 
by daily life. Such an equation is expressed when Yale students or 
graduates of the past thirty years and more say affectionately "Dickie 
Richards." The title they would give him would be "professor of 
physical development and manliness." 

Eugene Lamb Richards comes of a sturdy race. Samuel Richards 
settled in Norwalk, Connecticut, during the time of Queen Anne's War, 
which ended in 1713. His home had been in Staffordshire, England. 
Anthony Lamb of London came over and took up his residence in 
New York City where, it is particularly worthy of note in this sketch, 
he was the first maker of mathematical instruments in America. 
Another ancestor was Robert Treat, the valiant captain whose vic- 
tories over the Indians at last won security for the colonists of Hart- 
ford and New Haven — the man who first established a military 
organization in Connecticut and who was made governor by the grate- 
ful citizens. For he was wise in council as in war. General Jolin 
Lamb, a descendant of Anthony, brought honor to his name in the 
Revolutionary period. He was one of the founders of the Sons of 
Liberty in New York City. He was wounded and taken prisoner 
while with Montgomery in the attack on Quebec. Later he was 
appointed to the command of West Point after Arnold's traitorous 
conduct and when special care was requisite in the selection of his 
successor. 

The professor, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, December 
27th, 1838, is the son of Timothy Pickering Richards, a broker, and 
Agnes Treat Lamb. As a child he gave small promise of becoming the 
bronzed, vigorous man of to-day. Early in his "teens," the story 
was read to him of some great man who had mastered physical 



EUGENE LAMB RICHARDS 283 

weakness and had become strong. The man's name vanished from 
memory, but the precept of his life remains through the years. The 
youth adopted regular hours of sleep and exercise, rose at half-past 
five, took a cold bath, and began at once upon his studies. Though 
he was decidedly of literary and scholarly tastes, like his father before 
him, also like his father he was fond of athletic exercises, and the 
''sana mens" soon began to find itself "in sano corpore." 
Most unfortunately, however, in his junior year at Yale he received 
an injury to his spine. With characteristic fortitude, he not only 
went on with his studies but in his senior year took a seat in the 
Yale crew that rowed Harvard at Lake Quinsigamond in 1860. Such 
mental and physical persistency after the injury carried its penalty, 
however, and on leaving college with the class of 1860 he was unable 
to take what he would deem any active part in life until the spring 
of 1868. With that 3^ear his career as instructor at Yale begins. 

His fortitude was strengthened by the influence and teaching 
of his mother as well as by the counsel of his father. Mrs. Eichards 
was a woman of intellectual tastes, of strong moral and religious sense, 
eminently practical, and uncommonly shrewd in her estimates of char- 
acter — sincere and direct. The young man also was, and always has 
been, a constant reader of the Bible, and he often has said that he 
attributes such success as he has had in life as much to the influence of 
that Book on his conduct and character as to heredity and environ- 
ment. He also drew aid from Stanley's "Thomas Arnold's Life and 
Correspondence" ; indeed, as is evident, that volume has had a marked 
effect on his relations with the student world. In relative strength of 
influence on his life he places home first, then private study, and 
finally school. He prepared for college at Dwight School, in Brook- 
lyn. 

He had been instructor in mathematics at Yale only three years 
when he was appointed assistant professor and then full professor in 
1892. What his labors in these capacities through these years meant 
for the university the students and faculty know ; what they meant for 
him himself only his most intimate friends can know. The results 
of his injury in his junior year have never passed away and it has 
been only through his resolute will that he has risen superior to 
bodily pain and accomplished so successfully the tasks he set for him- 
self. In his intercourse with the students, honor is the only and 



284 EUGENE LAMB RICHARDS 

highest court he knows. It may be permissible to introduce an 
illustration of which he himself is ignorant to-day: A sophomore 
in his division had committed an offense which showed gross lack 
of respect for himself, to say nothing of his college. The professor 
rebuked him strongly. Immediately the young man assumed an 
air of injured innocence, resented the professor's alleged "imputa- 
tions/' declared that he took the rebuke as an insult to his mother 
and to his name and proclaimed himself a man of honor. Before that 
word the professor bowed and retracted what he had said in a most 
chivalric manner. The sophomore went forth to boast to his com- 
panions of his success in clearing his record. The companions knew 
"Dickie" Eichards. Their friend's laughter fell on unresponsive 
ears. Doubtless he never knew, any more than the professor, why 
his popularity waned from that day and why, when he was graduated, 
he found he had missed most of what is best in the associations of 
college life. He had played the hypocrite to Professor Eichards. 

But, as has been said, the professor's real boon to the student world 
has been his espousal of physical training. He can't be partial; 
neither can he endure to see others unjust. It is related that on 
one occasion some years ago he discovered that a good athlete was do- 
ing well in all his studies except one. For a reason which the professor 
suspected, his standing in that one branch was falling lower and lower 
as the football season progressed. The instructor in that branch 
was a particular friend of the professor's — as are most of the instruct- 
ors. Also he was a good deal of a recluse. The professor went to 
him to get him to attend a football game. The tutor respectfidly 
declined, saying he could not waste the time. The morning of the 
game the professor appeared again, showed the tickets he had pro- 
cured and said in an irresistible manner that he would come around 
and go out to Yale Field with the tutor. They went. Before 
the close of the first half the tutor was one of the most enthusiastic 
men on the bleachers, and if his marking of an athlete had been 
unconsciously biased in the past, it never was again. 

It was through the professor's influence that students began 
to organize long walking expeditions. They were almost a fad with 
the professor. By experience he knew exactly how a man should 
equip himself and where were the best routes, even before the days 
of bicycle guide-books; and he himself could out-tramp anybody. 



EUGENE LAMB RICHAEDS 285 

Moreover he studied into the finer points of intercollegiate athletics. 
His well known articles in the Popular Science Monthly in 1884 
were the result of almost two years' investigation and thought. They 
were widely quoted and in large part were embodied in the federal 
government's report on Physical Culture in the United States. 
Similar articles from his pen appeared in the same magazine in 1888 
and 1894, and in other magazines, doing much to elevate the stand- 
ard of athletics and to disabuse certain critics of their prejudices. 

One valuable contribution to the discussion was the plotting of 
the disciplinary records of the college by which it is demonstrated 
that breaches of college discipline have grown steadily less with the 
advance of athletics. 

From the old rope-walk gymnasium of the last century, Yale to- 
day has one of the finest and best equipped gymnasiums in the 
land. This important fact is due in no small measure to Professor 
Eichards, who started the movement and who consented to serve as the 
first director (not active, but possessing initiative and veto power), 
from 1893 to 1901, or until the associate directors could conduct 
affairs alone. 

Professor Eichards has written two important mathematical 
books, "Plane and Spherical Trigonometry with Applications," in 
1879, and "Elementary Navigation and Nautical Astronomy," in 
1902. He received the degree of M.A. from his Alma Mater in 1887. 
He married Julia L. Bacon of New Haven on November 27th, 1861, 
and has four children: Eugene Lamb Eichards, Jr., a lawyer; Wil- 
liam Martin Eichards, a physician; Anna Eichards, married to Pro- 
fessor James Locke, and Elizabeth Vernon H. Eichards. His sons 
have emulated their father in athletics and to-day are making names 
for themselves. In religion the professor is affiliated with the Con- 
gregational Church of Yale University. He is a member of the Grad- 
uates Club of New Haven, but never has given much time from his 
study and athletic regime for social pleasures. 

It is natural that the suggestions of such a leader and promoter 
should be of special value to young men. He says : "For true success, 
character comes first. Therefore, I say to a young man, cultivate 
character by right conduct, and by companionship with the highest 
ideals, whether in real life or in books. Next, I say, cultivate 
physical strength, not for exploits, but to acquire vitality; take daily 



286 EUGENE LAMB RICHAEDS 

some form of regular body-developing exercise. In these days of 
fierce competition, no man can obtain or retain success without a 
basis of physical toughness of fiber, either inherited or acquired. If 
a young man has tastes, they will generally guide him in his prepara- 
tion for his life work. If he has no decided bent toward a particular 
line of life, then, I say, take the first opening that presents itself and 
having gone into it, keep steadily at work in it. Do not rely on 'pulls.' 
Success depends on effort. If a man's work is good and worth a pull, 
the man will get the pull, or, if no pull comes, he will attain success 
without the pull. Pull or no pull, he never will obtain success with- 
out faithful, continuous effort. "Be steadfast. This saying, made 
thousands of years ago, is true to-day : 'Seest thou a man diligent in 
his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before 
mean men.' " 



GEORGE BARKER STEVENS 

STEVENS, PROF. GEORGE BARKER, one of the most 
widely known of Yale's theological writers and teachers, was 
born in Spencer, Tioga County, New York, on July 13th, 
1854, the son of Thomas Jackson Stevens and Weltha Barker 
Stevens. His father, who was of Dutch descent, was a persevering, 
energetic, thrifty farmer. His mother, whose ancestors came from 
England, was a devoted helpmeet and parent, the power of whose 
influence on his moral life and his ambitions is gladly acknowledged 
by her son to-day. 

The professor's early life was of the kind to stimulate physical 
activity and right thinking. The family lived on a farm during his 
school days, and, when he was not busy with his books, he employed his 
time in helping his father at the work. The reader of these volumes 
must be impressed with the great number of Men of Mark whose early 
experience was like this and must feel again the debt of gratitude the 
country owes to the "old farms." It is also notable, in speaking with 
these men, whatever their position in life or whatever part of America 
they may be living in, that, hard as the farm life might have seemed 
during the living of it, few of them regret it, and many of them, when 
it is too late, wish their sons could have had the same. 

Sound, vigorous health, with a taste for outdoor life and sports, 
was what Professor Stevens brought from country and village to the 
life he was to lead in the quiet of the study. He had stored up energy 
against the future, and the results of it are apparent in the virility of 
his writings and the broad-mindedness of his teachings. He did not 
allow ambition to devour him in his youth; he did whatever his hand 
found to do as he had done his father's chores, in cheerful spirit, with 
zeal and with fidelity, and already he can look back upon a career rich 
in its products for his fellow men and not without its share of honors 
for himself. 

When a pupil in the Ithaca (N". Y.) Academy, he displayed a 
fondness for the classics, for history and for philosophy, and found 



288 GEORGE BARKER STEVENS 

inspiration in biography. His scholarly bent attracted the attention 
of the principal, who immediately encouraged him to press on with his 
studies, and to-day the professor believes that that encouragement, 
along with the influence of his mother, was what led him into the 
successful paths he has followed since. He was graduated from the 
University of Eochester in 1877 and went the following year to Yale 
University, where he took the regular course at the Divinity School, 
being graduated in 1880 with the degree of B.D. His high scholarship 
at Eochester was evidenced by his gaining membership in Phi Beta 
Kappa. Also he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. 

On November 23rd, of the year of his graduation in New Haven, 
he was married to Kate Abell Mattison of Oswego. They live now at 
No. 388 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, and have two children, Mar- 
garet and Mary. 

Immediately upon his graduation, in July, 1880, he entered upon 
the pastorate of the First Congregational Church in Buffalo, whence 
he went, after two years of service and of hard study, to the First 
Presbyterian Church in Watertown, New York. In 1885, he went 
abroad for a year of study and research in the German universities, 
obtaining the degree of S.T.D. at Jena in 1886. At Syracuse Uni- 
versity, where he had pursued a post-graduate course in 1882-1883, he 
had earned the degree of Ph.D. The Illinois College gave him the degree 
of D.D. in 1902 and the University of Eochester that of LL.D. the 
same year. 

On his return from Germany, he was called to the position of 
professor of New Testament criticism at Yale Divinity School, which 
position he held from 1886 to 1895, when he was chosen to fill the 
chair of systematic theology, which he still holds. His capacity for 
business affairs is attested to by his membership in the directorates 
of the Yale National Bank, New Haven, and the E. H. H. Smith 
Silver Company of Bridgeport. 

When we come to a consideration of the professor's writings, we 
find that they are marked by ripe scholarship, and new books from 
his pen are eagerly welcomed by the theological world. His first 
book^ doubtless prompted by his class-room work, was "An Exposition 
of the Epistle to the Galatians," published in 1890. Since then 
the volumes have followed each other in rapid succession. They in- 
clude : "The Pauline Theology," 1892 ; "The Johannine Theology," 



GEORGE BARKER STEVENS 289 

1894; "Doctrine and Life," 1895; "The Life of Peter Parker," 1896; 
"The Epistles of Paul in Modern English," 1898 ; "The Theology of 
the New Testament," 1899; "The Messages of Paul," 1900; "The 
Messages of the Apostles," 1900; "The Teaching of Jesus," 1901, 
and "The Christian Doctrine of Salvation," 1905. Other works are 
in contemplation. 

In politics the professor is a Eepublican. His advice to the young 
is to labor diligently, have high aims, take wholesome exercise, and 
keep calm and cheerful. The points in his own life, governed by these 
principles, can be written briefly, but the good he has done, the 
position he has won in the esteem of his neighbors, and the influence 
he has had upon the trend of high religious thought cannot be 
measured by pages. Retaining his physical strength by riding and 
driving and by country life when he can, he has still many years 
of activity before him and it is far too early to take the measure of 
his works. 



JOHN MARSHALL HOLCOMBE 

HOLCOMBE, JOHN MARSHALL, president of the Phoenix 
Mutual Life Insurance Company and of the Fidelity Com- 
pany, both of Hartford, lecturer at Yale University, bank 
director, and a prominent factor in the city government of Hartford, 
was bom in that city on the eighth of June, 1848. The Holcombe 
ancestry is very interesting and distinguished and embraces men of 
note in every walk of life. John Marshall Holcombe is a descendant 
of Thomas Holcombe, who settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 
1635 and was later a settler and deputy in Windsor, Connecticut. He 
is in the same line of descent as Amasa Holcombe, the distinguished 
scientist, and Rev. Frederick Holcombe, the eminent divine and 
founder of Trinity College. Among Mr. Holcombe's ancestors were 
three Revolutionary soldiers and many other men prominent in early 
American history, including John Webster, one of the early Colonial 
governors of Connecticut; William Phelps, magistrate and deputy to 
the General Court for many sessions; Edward Griswold, also magis- 
trate and deputy for thirty-five years; Captain Joseph Wadsworth, 
who hid the charter in the oak, and Gen. Nathan Johnson, an 
officer in the War of 1812, who was also State senator. These and 
many other ancestors came from England and were early settlers 
and proprietors in Colonial and later times. Mr. Holcombe's father 
was James Huggins Holcombe, a lawyer, who was clerk of court and 
of the House and Senate of Connecticut. He was characterized by 
the usual New England traits of rectitude, fidelity, and thrift. Mr. 
Holcombe's mother was Emily Merrill Holcombe. 

The city of Hartford has been Mr. Holcombe's home and the 
center of all his interests from his earliest days and he is now living 
there in the house in which he was born. He attended the Hartford 
Public High School and then entered Yale College, where he 
received his B.A. degree in 1869 and his M.A. degree three years 
later. In 1869 he began his career as an insurance man in the office 
of the actuary of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, 



JOHN MARSHALL HOLCOMBE 293 

and in 1871 he became actuary of the insurance department of the 
State of Connecticut, which office he held for three years. In 1874 
he became assistant secretary of the Phoenix Mutual Life, the fol- 
lowing year he was made secretary and, in 1889, vice-president of the 
company of which he is now the president. He is also president of 
the Fidelity Company, a director in the American National Bank, 
in the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company, in the Mechanics Sav- 
ings Bank of Hartford, and in the National Surety Company of New 
York, In addition to these interests he has been a lecturer at Yale 
University, in the insurance course. This last named position shows, 
even more than his many other business positions, what a capable 
authority he is on the important subject of life insurance. He has 
also written valuable articles on life insurance for the North American 
Review. 

In the municipal affairs of Hartford Mr. Holcombe has taken 
as important a part as he has in the business life. He brought 
about the organization of the board of health and served on it for 
many years. In 1883 he was a member of the common council and, 
in 1885, he was a member of the board of aldermen, and he was 
president of both of these branches of city government. He is a 
director of the board of trade and of the Retreat for the Insane. In 
politics he is a Eepublican and in creed a Congregationalist, being 
a member of the Center Church of Hartford. He has been president 
of the Yale Alumni Association of Hartford, is a member of the 
University Club of New York, of the Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion, of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the War of 1812, 
of the Hartford Club, and a fellow of the Actuarial Society of 
America, another evidence of his high place among the life insurance 
"captains" of to-day. Mrs. Holcombe was Emily Seymour Goodwin, 
whom he married January 29th, 1873, and by whom he has had three 
children, a daughter and two sons: Harold Goodwin Holcombe, 
Emily Marguerite Holcombe, and John Marshall Holcombe, Jr. Mrs. 
Holcombe is as much a leader in social, intellectual, and patriotic 
circles as her husband is in business and public affairs. 



HENRY WALCOTT FARNAM 

AMONG the descendants of John Howland, who came from 
England in the "Mayflower," in 1620, is Professor Henry 
Walcott Farnam of New Haven. His parents were Henry Far- 
nam and Ann Sophia Whitman. He was born in New Haven, Novem- 
ber 6th, 1853. 

His father was a man of prominence in engineering and railroad 
circles, in the days when the foundations of the country's great 
commercial prosperity were being laid. A civil engineer by profes- 
sion, he was with the Erie Canal when he was called to Connecticut to 
engineer the Farmington Canal. He was one of those far-sighted men 
who subsequently planned the railroad from New Haven to New York, 
— the beginning of what was to be one of the most important and 
valuable systems in America. The West, however, seemed to offer still 
greater opportunities. Eemoving thither he put through to com- 
pletion into Chicago the Michigan Southern Railroad, with Joseph 
E. Sheffield, and built the Chicago and Rock Island, the first road 
to give Chicago access to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Mississippi. 
He was a man of indomitable energy and force of character, and 
at the same time kindly and liberal. He rose to the position of 
president of the Chicago and Rock Island, and retired from active 
business in 1863. Henry W. Farnam, who had been spending 
considerable time in Farmington, was taken abroad that year to 
continue his education. After two years in France and four years 
in Germany, where he was a pupil in the gymnasia at Heidelberg 
and Weimar, he returned to this country. In 1870, after having 
had one year at the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, 
he entered the academic department at Yale, where he was graduated 
in 1874 with a high-oration rating. 

On leaving college Henry W. Farnam remained in New Haven till 
he received the degree of Master of Arts, in 1875, and then he went 
back to Germany, to study economics and law. At Berlin, Gottingen, 
and Strassburg, he studied under Schmoller, Knapp, Sohm, Wagner, 




-C-'C-».>-^_^ 



<3l/Vt<_C-t,-t-*^ 



I 



HENRY WALCOTT FAENAM 295 

Ihering, and Mommsen, and, in 1878, received the degree of Doctor 
of Political Science (R.P.B.) at Strassburg. 

It has been the rule of Professor Farnam's life to merge his own 
personality in whatever he undertakes. Economics and political science 
had won his devotion at the outset, and still more profound knowledge 
of these subjects has been his ambition since the 5^ear after his gradua- 
tion from Yale, yet he has given of his time freely to the study of art 
and literature and has granted to community and State the benefits 
of his ripe scholarship. 

When he returned to New Haven as tutor, in 1878, there was no 
vacancy in economics. Loving Yale with that devotion which has 
held so many of its teachers against the allurements of sister insti- 
tutions, he was willing to wait for opportunity to utilize his learning 
while further prosecuting the study of his specialty. But he was not 
to be idle meantime. Members of three classes — 1881, 1882, and 1883 
— remember with pleasure his luminous teaching of the Latin 
classics. In 1880 came his appointment as university professor of 
political economy. The year following, General Francis A. Walker, 
who had held the chair of political economy in the Sheffield Scientific 
School of the university, accepted the presidency of the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology at Boston, and Professor Farnam was im- 
mediately chosen to succeed him. With the growth of the university, 
however, and with increasing pressure of his duties in the graduate 
department, he resigned the chair in the Scientific School in 1903 to 
devote all his time to the more advanced courses. 

Meantime his practical interest in public affairs had been attested 
in part by his presidency of the company that published the New 
Haven Morning Neivs of which Clarence Deming was the editor. 
Professor Farnam had been financially interested a year when he was 
chosen head of the enterprise with the purpose of maintaining in New 
Haven a politically independent journal of high character. The 
paper did valiant service for the principles represented in the candi- 
dacy of Grover Cleveland in the presidential campaign of 1884. 

On June 26th, 1890, Professor Farnam married Miss Elizabeth 
Upham Kingsley, daughter of Dr. William L. Kingsley of New Haven, 
and the following month he started on a journey to the far East, 
visiting Japan, China, India, Egypt, and Greece before returning to 
his classes at Yale in the fall of 1901. He had resigned his position 



296 HENRY WALCOTT FAENAM 

with the New Haven News before going abroad. On reaching home, 
one of the earliest tasks he found to put his hand to, outside of his 
university work, was the reorganization of that standard periodical, 
the New Englander and Yale Review, of which Dr. Kingsley had been 
the editor for a long period. The name of the publication was 
changed to the Yale Review, known to-day throughout the world of 
culture as a quarterly magazine for the discussion of political science 
and economics. For cooperation with him he selected such eminent 
men as Prof. George P. Fisher, Prof, (now president) Arthur T. 
Hadley, George B. Adams, and John C. Schwab, and the publication 
is increasing in power each year. 

Professor Farnam, ever striving for purity in politics and the 
development of worth, was among the promoters of the New Haven 
Civil Service Eeform Association, established in 1881. He held the 
position of secretary until, in 1901, the association broadened out as 
a state institution into the Connecticut Civil Service Reform Asso- 
ciation, with him as president. In 1898 he was appointed chairman 
of the New Haven Civil Service Board by Mayor Farnsworth, and 
he proceeded at once to organize the department with an aptitude and 
proficiency which established it as a model for other municipalities. 
In 1899 he went abroad with his family for a year of travel in Ger- 
many, Italy, and England, and resigned his chairmanship. His 
interest in the subject did not wane, however, for he retains to-day his 
membership in the Council of the National Civil Service Reform 
League. 

He has been called upon for practical application of the principles 
he has studied and always has responded gladly and effectively. As 
member of the prudential committee of the New Haven Hospital for 
six years from 1880, and part of the time as chairman; as a director 
for many years in the Organized Charities Association; as an adviser 
for the University Settlement in New York and as a member of the 
Institute of Social Service and of similar organizations, he has 
contributed liberally of his time and talents toward the betterment 
of the condition of the people. Professor Farnam has long been 
interested in social settlements, and when Lowell House was re- 
organized in 1901, he assisted in the work and was made its president. 
As the work grew and the necessity for better accommodations showed 
itself, he secured, in 1906, a piece of property on Hamilton Street and 



HENEY WALCOTT FAENAM 297 

presented it to the association, together with money to erect a new 
building. 

His publications include "Die Innere Franzosische Gewerbepoli- 
tik von Colbert bis Turgot/' his Strassburg thesis printed in the 
series of "Schmoller's Forschungen/' "Economic Aspects of tlie 
Liquor Problem by John Koren," written under the professor's 
direction, and "Life of Henry Farnam." 

In religion Professor Farnam is a Congregationalist, and attends 
the historic Center Church of New Haven. His politics cannot be 
given a party label; they stand first and foremost for the gold 
standard, tariff for revenue, and the merit system. He finds delight 
in outdoor life, in wheeling, in tennis, in riding, in mountain 
climbing, in photography, and in the hunting and fishing 
camp, and he is a member of the carefully chosen State Commission 
of Sculpture, one of whose duties is to pass upon whatever works of 
art are proposed for the capitol and grounds at Hartford. He was 
made clerk of the commission in 1887 and has been chairman since 
1902. His home at No. 43 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, is evidence 
of the refinement of his taste. 

He is a member of the Graduates Club, the Country Club, and the 
Lawn Club of New Haven, of the Century, University, Keform, and 
Yale clubs of New York, and of the Golf Club and Casino of Stock- 
bridge, Massachusetts, where he spends considerable of his time in sum- 
mer. He has three children : Louise Whitman, Katherine Kingsley, and 
Henry W. Farnam, Jr. Speaking of what tends most to the strength- 
ening of sound ideals of American life and of what would be most 
helpful to the young in striving for true success, Professor Farnam 
said: "Form high ideals early. Stick to them. Cultivate industry, 
self-control, persistency. Think more of your work than of yourself. 
Bring up your children to do better service than their father." 



IRVING FISHER 

PROFESSOR IRVING FISHER, among the youngest as well 
as most versatile professors Yale University ever had, is a 
native of Saugerties, Ulster County, New York. His father, 
George Whitefield Fisher, was a clergyman, very optimistic and very 
benevolent. His mother was Ella (Wescott) Fisher. Among his 
ancestors were George Norton, who came from England and settled 
in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1629; John King, who was living in 
Weymouth, Massachusetts, early in the seventeenth century, and 
Richard Wescott, one of the earliest residents of Wethersfield, Con- 
necticut. In England the line is traced back to the Cranmer family 
which included the archbishop. George King, a descendant of John, 
was a captain in the Revolutionary War. 

Irving Fisher was born February 27th, 1867. A strong, hearty 
lad, his mind was absorbed with outdoor sports in the days when 
foundations for physique should be laid. Much of this period was 
spent in the village of Peace Dale, R. I. Under the inspiration of 
his school teachers and with his fathers books at his hand, the desire 
to imbibe learning developed itself and he soon had made his way 
through the high school of South Kingston, R. I. The ambition to go 
to college was upon him, but with that devotion to thoroughness 
which was to characterize his later life he determined to make his 
preparation complete. After having spent a year at the Hillhouse 
High School in New Haven, he removed with the family to St. 
Louis, Mo., where he rounded out his preliminary studies at Smith 
Academy. 

Then only seventeen years old, he entered Yale University, aca- 
demic department. Studies came easy for him, and also honors, from 
the course and from his fellows. He was the highest stand man 
(valedictorian) in his class, and this, of course, gave him member- 
ship in Phi Beta Kappa. He was elected into Delta Kappa Epsilon 
and into Skull and Bones. All this time he was dependent for his 
living wholly upon his own exertions, and to obtain the money to pay 



IRVING PISHER 299 

his term bills and other expenses he gave up many hours to private 
tutoring. His favorite reading was mathematics, economics, etc., 
Darwin's "Descent of Man" not to be omitted. He believes that 
these books were most helpful in fitting him for his work in life, and 
as to other early influences he rates them as follows, according to 
their strength : home, early companionship, private study, and 
school. He was graduated at Yale in 1888, a man for whom his 
classmates predicted a brilliant future, provided his body was able 
to keep pace with his brain; for the long years of study and outside 
work had taxed his energies to the uttermost. In two years he was 
back " 'neath the elms," as instructor in mathematics. More remu- 
nerative fields must have been easily within his reach, but, like so 
many others who have given their life to Yale there was back of his 
devotion to learning a love for Yale and all that it stands for. The 
following year he had earned the degree of Ph.D. 

In 1893 he went abroad for a year's study of science in Berlin and 
Paris. Before leaving he was made assistant professor of mathematics 
at Yale, a position which he filled until 1895, when he entered the 
still more congenial field of political science as assistant professor. 
In 1898, at the age of thirty-one, he was made full professor and 
took the chair he now holds, succeeding some and associated with 
others whose researches in political science have brought honor to the 
tmiversity. But at the very moment when he had attained such high 
position, his health threatened to fail him, and from 1898 to 1901 
he spent his time in the gentler climates of Colorado and Califor- 
nia. Again, his resolution and his principle of thoroughness pre- 
vailed so that when he resumed his work — and under the regime he 
had established for himself — his associates saw with delight the 
promise of a long life of usefulness. 

Perhaps here we find a reason why he has become so earnest an 
advocate for more attention to health problems and a leader in the 
crusade against tuberculosis. In addition to giving much thought 
and aid to public health movements, he has devised a tent of great 
value in consumptive sanatoria. He has also invented a "mechanical 
diet indicator," which is in use among sanatoria, for aiding in the 
measurement and prescription of diet. And, speaking of his inventive 
genius, we might also mention among other machines for scientific 
use one which he devised to illustrate the mechanism of prices, and a 
semi-cylindrical sundial. 



300 IRVING FISHEE 

His publications alone are enough to indicate his indefatigable 
energy. His "Mathematical Investigations in the Theory of Value 
and Prices," which attracted wide attention in 1892, was followed in 
1893 by "Bibliographies of Present Officers of Yale University." In 
1896, in conjunction with Professor A. W. Phillips of Yale, he wrote 
"Elements of Geometry," which has been translated into Japanese. 
In the same year appeared "Appreciation and Interest" among the 
publications of the American Economic Association. The following 
year appeared "Bibliography of Mathematical Economics" in Coumot's 
"Bibliography of Mathematical Theory of Wealth," which latter 
work he also assisted in translating. In the year 1897 he produced 
"A Brief Introduction to the Infinitesimal Calculus," which was 
translated into German and into Japenese. A revised edition has 
been issued in 1906. A book entitled "The Nature of Capital and 
Income" appeared in 1906, as well as articles in the Economic 
Journal, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Annals of the 
American Academy of Political and Social Science, the publications 
of the American Economic Association, the Bond Record, Moody's 
Magazine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the 
American Journal of Physiology, the Outlook, and the Yale Review, 
of which he is an editor. 

Professor Fisher is an independent Eepublican. He voted for 
Cleveland on the tariff issue and for McKinley on the gold standard. 
His religious creed is the Congregational. For exercise he indulges 
in gymnastics, bicycling, and rowing, and is an ardent believer in 
physical culture. 

His advice to young men desirous of attaining success is: "In- 
vest in good health, adopt hygiene and simple living, with love of 
outdoor sports and fresh air indoors as well as outdoors. Eat 
nothing but simple and pure food, and eat it slowly and not in 
excess. Let hard work always be limited by fatigue. Avoid all 
poisons, including alcohol and tobacco. Preserve mental serenity. 
Have a definite and altruistic purpose in life, with an ideal to be and 
not to seem." 

A number of scientific associations have his name on their rolls. 
They include the American Economic Association, British Economic 
Association, the American Mathematical Society, the Connecticut 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political 



IRVING FISHER 301 

and Social Science, the American Statistical Association, the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington 
Academy of Science, the Eoyal Statistical Society, the New England 
Free Trade League, the New York Reform Club, the National 
Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, and the 
New Haven County Anti-Tuberculosis Association, of which he is 
secretary; also he is a member of the Graduates Club of New 
Haven. 

Professor Fisher married Miss Margaret Hazard, daughter of 
Rowland Hazard, on June 24th, 1893. They have had three children: 
Margaret, Caroline, and Irving Norton, all of whom are living. They 
have a delightful home at No. 460 Prospect Street, New Haven. 



WILLIAM EDWIN SESSIONS 

SESSIONS, WILLIAM EDWIN, was born in Bristol, Connecti- 
cut, February 18th, 1857. The first twelve years of his boy- 
hood were spent in the little village of Polkville, three miles 
from the center. His father, John Humphrey Sessions, who mar- 
ried Miss Emily Bunnell, was a manufacturer. He was one of the 
few men who gave Bristol the start on its enviable career of enterprise 
and prosperity, and was a powerful factor in its growth and success. 
He was a man of unblemished character, public spirited, and an 
ardent advocate of the higher moral and educational development of 
his own community. He was a strong churchman and a devoted 
Methodist. He often refused public office, but served one term in the 
State Legislature, was president of the Bristol National Bank, and 
president of the Bristol Water Company. He died in 1899 at the age 
of seventy-one. 

William Edwin is the younger of his two sons. He is de- 
scended on his father's side from Alexander Sessions, who settled 
in Plymouth Colony in 1639, and is also a descendant of 
Francis Cook of the "Mayflower," who was a signer of the "May- 
flower" compact, and whose death occurred in 1663; he is a descend- 
ant, too, of James Chilton of the "Mayflower," who died at Province- 
town, Massachusetts, 1620. In June of 1878 Mr. Sessions married 
Miss Emily Brown. They have two sons, Joseph B., born in 1881, 
and William Kenneth, born in 1887. 

Bristol has always been the home of William E. Sessions ; he at- 
tended the public schools there and was graduated from the Hartford 
Public High School in 1876. His mind was strongly set on a business 
life and therefore he at once entered his father's office, and so started 
on a career marked with sagacity, industry, and success. He is by na- 
ture urbane and courtly. Though not a college man, he is, however, a 
man of marked intelligence and culture. He has traveled at home 
and abroad, is a reader of good literature, a student of art, and a 
musician. The music hall in his own home on Bellevue Avenue con- 



WILLIAM EDWIN SESSIONS 305 

tains a pipe organ and grand piano for his own diversion and pleasure. 

Mr. Sessions has a wonderful faculty for business. In 1879, two 
years after entering his father's office, he started in a separate concern 
with his father, organizing the Sessions Foundry Company, of 
which he is now president. The business was small, employing about 
twenty men, when they purchased it of the Bristol Foundry Com- 
pany. Mr. Sessions conducted it for sixteen years on Laurel Street 
in the center of the town where it grew so rapidly that in 1895 it 
had outgrown the three acres of land which was all that was available, 
when Mr. Sessions conceived the idea of buying the large tract of 
thirty acres now occupied by the business on Farmington Avenue, 
and building a large and modern foundry plant. The site is an ideal 
one for such a business. Mr. Sessions also purchased most of the 
adjoining land in order to provide building lots for his workmen and 
control the character of the neighborhood. No saloon can possibly 
exist within five minutes' walk of the works. The men are en- 
couraged to own their own homes, which many of them do. The 
handsome office of granite, the neat, yet majestic buildings, the 
splendidly kept grounds, make it appear almost like an educational or 
philanthropic pile of buildings, rather than an iron foundry. Mr. 
Sessions treats his men kindly and well, so that strikes and labor 
troubles are unknown to them. Every summer he gives them a 
fete on the grounds, which is an evening of music, refreshments, and 
social pleasure, when the men and their families come together to 
the number of 3,000, and for one night in the year they are "the 
people of the city." 

In the summer of 1902, the E. M. Welch Manufacturing Company 
of Forestville, a village in the town of Bristol, was about to go into 
the hands of a receiver, which meant the closing of the clock factories 
which had been running for many years, and thus leaving most of 
the villagers without means of support. Mr. Sessions was urged to 
take the presidency of the concern and save it if possible. This 
seemed impossible as he was already a man of many cares and respon- 
sibilities. Finally, however, Mr. Sessions yielded to the earnest solici- 
tations and became the president and principal owner of the business 
which is now known as the Sessions Clock Company. In two short 
years several large new buildings have been erected, new machinery 
put in, and the output more than doubled, a truly remarkable achieve- 
ment. 



306 WILLIAM EDWIN SESSIONS 

Like his father before him, Mr. Sessions is a strongly religious man. 
He joined the Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church when twelve years 
of age. He is now president of the board of trustees and vice-presi- 
dent of the official board of that church. He has a marked fondness 
for children and is superintendent of the Sunday school, one of the 
largest in the State, with over 750 members. The Sunday school is 
truly a modern, vigorous, and prosperous institution. He is a true 
friend and liberal supporter of the Church he so much loves. He is 
also a trustee of Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, 
and serves on some of its most important committees. For many 
years, also, he has been in charge of the Mount Hope Sunday 
school, which meets in a little chapel on Chippins Hill, four miles 
from Bristol, in a sparsely settled district of the town, whither he 
drives Sunday afternoons to conduct the services which mean so 
much to the people of the neighborhood. His charities and bene- 
factions are generously and wisely bestowed. Mr. Sessions 
is a total abstainer, never having taken intoxicating drinks 
in any form. He has always been a Eepublicau in politics. 
He has thus far felt compelled to refuse political offices, both local 
and state, that have been offered him. He is a director of the 
Bristol National Bank, president of the Bristol Water Company, 
and greatly interested in all movements looking toward the welfare 
of the people and the advancement of Bristol, and of the nation. 



HENRY ROSEMAN LANG 

LANG, HENRY ROSEMAN, professor of Romance philology 
in Yale University, was born at Wartau, Canton of St. Gall, 
Switzerland, on September 22nd, 1853. He is the son of Dr. 
Heinrich Lang (leader of the liberal school of theology in Switzer- 
land) and Constautia (Suter) Lang. Professor Lang, who is the 
first of his family to make this country the scene of his life's work, 
is the grandson of Heinrich Wilhelm Lang, who distinguished him- 
self as a Lutheran minister in Wurtemberg, Germany. 

His early life was passed in the country in the republic of 
Switzerland, and his particular pleasure was in the study of insects 
and in drawing. The kinds of reading which he considers have been 
most helpful to him in fitting him for his life's work have been 
history, philosophy, and classical and modern literature. 

His life for the greater part has been that of the student. His 
earlier education was received in the public schools of St. Gall and 
at the gymnasium of Zurich. He later became a member of the 
University of Zurich and in 1884 continued his studies in the 
University of Strassburg. Three years later he went to Italy for the 
purpose of still further instruction, and after this was a student in 
both Spain and Portugal. His first work in the United States of 
America was in 1878, when he was appointed to the position of pro- 
fessor of Latin in the State Normal College, in Nashville, Tennessee. 
He remained at this institution until 1882, in which year he accepted 
a position as instructor in modern languages in the High School of 
Charleston, South Carolina. In 1886 he went to New Bedford, 
Massachusetts, as instructor at the Swain Free School, a position 
which he filled until 1892, when he was called to take a place on 
the corps of instructors at Yale University. 

Professor Lang is one of the best known professors of Yale Uni- 
versity in the contemporary world. In 1892 he was made instructor 
in the Romance languages at the University, and after one year 
was promoted to an assistant professorship in the same subject. This 



308 HENRY ROSEMAN LANG 

place he filled for three years, at the end of which period he was 
made professor of Eomance philology, the position he holds at the 
present time. 

Professor Lang has also devoted considerable time to the work 
of the world of belles lettrcs. He has written and is writing numer- 
ous articles on scientific subjects for the various publications in this 
country, but the most prominent among his longer works are the 
following: "Cancioneiro del Eey D. Denis," 1892, Halle; "Liederbuch 
des Koenigs D. Denis," 1894, Halle; "Cancioneiro Gallego-Castel- 
hano," 1902, ss. 

He has been honored by a number of foreign societies. Among 
these honors are membership in the Eoyal Academy of Sciences in 
Portugal, 1896; membership in the Historical and Geographical 
Institute of Brazil, 1904. He was created a Knight Commander 
of the Order of Santiago, by the King of Portugal, in 1903; is a 
member of the American Dante Society, the A, A. A. S., and is also 
a prominent member of the Modern Language Association. Pro- 
fessor Lang, in 1890, was granted the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
by the University of Strassburg, and later was decorated with the 
honorary degree of Master of Arts by Yale University. 

On August 2nd, 1901, Professor Lang was married to Alice 
Hubbard Derby of New Haven, Connecticut. They have no 
children. Professor Lang is a Republican and has voted the ticket 
of that party from the time he was made a citizen of the United 
States. While his father and grandfather distinguished themselves 
as ministers in the Lutheran Church, he is himself an attendant of the 
Episcopal Church. 

Professor Lang states that the influence of his mother on his 
intellectual, moral, and spiritual life in his younger days was a 
very strong one, and says that, from his own observation and experi- 
ence as a citizen of this country, the best methods and principles for 
strengthening the sound ideals in American life are strict perform- 
ance of duty and careful and devoted attention to one's profession. 



CHARLES BRINCKERHOFF RICHARDS 

RICHARDS, CHARLES BRINCKERHOFF, professor of 
mechanical engineering at Yale University, is a descendant 
on his mother's side of John Howland, who came over in 
the "Mayflower," and on his father's side of Lieutenant Thomas 
Tracy, who came from Tewksbury, England, and settled in Nor- 
wich, Connecticut, in 1637. Among his forbears was Ezekiel 
Cheever, a teacher for seventy years of his ninety-four years of life 
and first master of the Boston Latin School, about 1640; also, George 
Brinckerhoff, a prominent lawyer in New York. 

His father, Thomas Fanning Richards of Brooklyn, New York, 
was an importer and manufacturer, of marked integrity and unself- 
ishness, generous, courteous, a true gentleman. His mother, who 
died when he was ten years old, was Harriet Howland Brinckerhoff. 
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 23rd, 1833. 

He early displayed a fondness for scientific subjects and for 
general works in mathematics. Obtaining his education in private 
schools, where his natural bent was recognized and appreciated, at 
the age of nineteen he went into the extensive establishment of the 
Woodruff & Beach Iron Works, in Hartford, as draughtsman, to 
improve both his technical and practical knowledge. His ambition 
was to become a mechanical engineer, and for such as he desired 
to be the country in its development was making loud demands. 

After six years of this practical study in Hartford, he opened 
an office in New York as a consulting engineer, remaining there 
from 1858 to 1861. Then he accepted the highly responsible position 
of engineer superintendent of the Colt's Patent Firearms Company 
of Hartford, where he continued through the war period, so im- 
portant for that concern, and till 1880. From 1881 till 1881, he 
was superintendent of the great plant of the Southwark Foundry 
and Machine Company of Philadelphia. 

In 1884 he was called to his present position of professor of 
mechanical engineering at Yale University, which institution eon- 



310 CHARLES BRINCKERHOFP RICHARDS 

ferred upon him that year the degree of M.A. He also has the 
decoration of chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. 

Professor Kichards has been consulting engineer for the con- 
struction of many large buildings, notably the Connecticut Capitol 
at Hartford. He was United States expert commissioner to the Paris 
International Exposition in 1889. His inventions are numerous, 
but perhaps by none is he so widely known as by his steam engine 
indicator, patented in 1861 and familiar the world over as the 
prototype of all modern steam engine indicators. He wrote the 
report on Class 52 of Group VI., Paris International Exposition, 
1889, and was editor of Volume III. and half of Volume IV. of the 
General Reports of the Exposition. Also he is the editor of engineer- 
ing and technical words in Webster's International Dictionary and he 
has written a number of papers for different publications. 

He has served as vice-president and manager of the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers and he is a member also of the 
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and of the Con- 
necticut Academy of Sciences, fellow of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, a corresponding member of the 
Societe Industrielle de Mulhouse, of Alsace, Germany. In politics 
he is affiliated with the Republican party. 

He married Miss Agnes Edwards Goodwin of Hartford on Sep- 
tember Ifith, 1858. They have had five children, all of whom are 
living. The professor's home is at No. 277 Edwards Street, New 
Haven. 



ARTHUR REED KIMBALL 

KIMBALL, AETHUR EEED, journalist and associate editor 
of the Waterbury American, was born in New York City, Feb- 
ruary 1st, 1855. He traces his ancestry to Governor Carver, 
who came from England to America in Colonial times. He is also 
descended from Jonathan Edwards. Mr. Kimball's father was J. 
Merrill Kimball, a well known merchant. His mother, Elizabeth C. 
Kimball, exerted on him a strong mental and moral influence. 

Mr. Kimball prepared for college at Hopkins Grammar School 
and then took the academic course at Yale, graduating in 1877. 
After his graduation he took a year's course at the Yale Law School, 
followed by a year in the law office of F. H. Winston in Chicago. He 
was admitted to the Chicago bar in 1879. He then taught school for 
a year, at the end of which he became editor of the Iowa State 
Register, in Des Moines. 

In 1881, after a term as a reporter in St. Louis, Mr. Kimball 
became associate editor of the Waterbury American. In addition 
to his editorial work he has lectured on journalism at Yale and has 
made many contributions to the leading magazines, including 
Scribner's, The Century, The North American Review, The Atlan- 
tic Monthly, Harper's, The Outlooh, and The Independent. 

Mr. Kimball is a director in the American Printing Company, 
a member of the executive committee of the Civil Service Reform 
Association of Connecticut, a member of the Century Club of New 
York and of the Society of Colonial Wars. In political faith ho is 
an Independent and his religious connections are with the Con- 
gregational Church. His most enjoyable sports are golf and bil- 
liards. 

On May 15th, 1895, Mr. Kimball married Mary E. Chase. They 
have two children, Elizabeth Chase Kimball and Chase Kimball, 
both now living. 



ALBERT LESLIE SESSIONS 

SESSIONS, ALBERT LESLIE, is a scion of the distinguished 
and widely known family of that name. He was born in 
Bristol, Connecticut, the fifth day of January, 1872. His 
father was John Henry Sessions and his mother was Maria Francena 
Woodford before her marriage. Both of them are widely known for 
their philanthropy, and a large number of people bless them for 
their benefactions. John H. Sessions died April 2nd, 1902. Mr. 
Sessions comes of a long and enviable line of ancestors. Samuel 
Sessions came from England to Massachusetts in 1G30. Many of his 
descendants have distinguished themselves in many ways. A few of 
them we name: the Eev. John Sessions, a graduate of Dartmouth 
College, and of Princeton Seminary, and a successful clergyman of 
the Presbyterian Church ; the Hon. Darius Sessions, an alumnus of 
Yale, and governor of Rhode Island; also the grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, Hon. John Humphrey Sessions, and the father, 
John Henry Sessions, manufacturers of Bristol. 

Albert L. Sessions received a good education. He studied at the 
Bristol public schools, Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, 
and is a graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, 
taking the Ph.B. degree in 1893, and is a member of the Chi Phi Fra- 
ternity and the University Club of New York. Immediately after 
leaving college he entered the employ of his grandfather and father 
in the business which his grandfather was instrumental, as a partner, 
in establishing November 15th, 1854. On October 1st, 1899, shortly 
after the death of his grandfather, he was admitted into partnership, 
the firm name being, as before, J. H. Sessions & Son, which was 
continued after the death of his father, April 2nd, 1902, by his mother 
and himself. July 1st, 1905, this business was incorporated under a 
special charter from the State of Connecticut, the firm name remain- 
ing as before. The incorporators and sole owners were his mother, 
his wife, and he himself. He is a prodigious worker, and gives 
promise of being one of Connecticut's most successful business men. 



ALBERT LESLIE SESSIONS 315 

On February 7th, 1894, Albert L. Sessions married Miss Leila B. 
Beach, daughter of Hon. Henry L. Beach. They have five 
children : Paul B., born November 19th, 1895 ; Ruth J., born May 
14th, 1897; John H., born July 12th, 1898; Judith H. and Janet M. 
(twins), born May 21st, 1901. 

Mr. Sessions is an honored member of Prospect Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and one of its trustees. He is president and treasurer 
of J. H. Sessions & Son, president of the Bristol Water Company, 
treasurer of the Sessions Clock Company, and a director in the 
Bristol and Plainville Tramway Company. Like his ancestors before 
him, he is a good churchman, a man with high ideals, of unflinching 
integrity, of public spirit, and ready to help in any needed reform and 
desired improvement. Mr. Sessions is a Republican in politics. He 
has no desire for public office, but is interested in all public matters 
and desires the best possible government for the people. He has often 
stated that his ambition was to be worthy of the honorable record of 
so manv of his ancestors and relatives. 



WILBUR OLIN ATWATER 

ATWATER, WILBUE OLIN", Ph.D., LL.D., one of the ablest 
and best known scientists of this century, educator, author, 
and the pioneer of some of the most important scientific investi- 
gations of the day, professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, the 
chief of the Nutrition Investigations of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, whose earnest, thorough, and fruitful experiments in 
agricultural and physiological chemistry have made him a public 
benefactor and whose successful researches into abstract science pro- 
claim him one of the greatest scholars of his day, was born in Johns- 
burgh, New York, May 3rd, 1844. He is descended from David 
Atwater, a native of Kent, England, who emigrated thence to 
America and became one of the original settlers in the New Haven 
Colony in 1635. He is the son of William Warren Atwater and 
Eliza Barnes Atwater. His father was a Methodist minister and a 
strong and active temperance worker in Burlington, Vermont, where 
he edited a temperance paper. William Atwater was a man of 
indomitable will and perseverance. 

It was natural that the son of a Methodist minister should not 
spend all of his early years in one place and Wilbur Atwater lived in 
various small New England and New York towns in his boyhood. 
He had the priceless endowment of excellent health which found logi- 
cal expression in a love of outdoor sports, especially the aquatic ones, 
swimming and fishing. He was eager to have a thorough education 
and worked to get it, both at farming and as clerk in a country store, 
and he considers the experience gained by this early labor a most 
useful part of his education. After gleaning sufficient preparatory 
knowledge from the public schools in the various towns where the 
family made their home he spent two years at the University of 
Vermont and two at Wesleyan University, from which he was 
graduated in 1865. Two years' teaching followed this academic course 
and he then took a course in post-graduate study at Yale, which led 
to his taking his Ph.D. degree at that university in 1868. In 1870 he 



WILBUR OLIN ATWATER 317 

went abroad and spent two years in scientific study at Leipzig, Berlin, 
Heidelberg, and Munich. Upon his return to the United States he 
took the position of professor of chemistry in the University of Ten- 
nessee, from which he resigned in 1873 to take the same chair at the 
Maine State College, where he stayed but a year as he was called to 
Wesleyan University, where he has been in charge of the chemistry 
department continuously since that time. 

In December, 1873, Professor Atwater addressed the Connecti- 
cut State Board of Agriculture on the subject of agricultural investi- 
gations, especially in regard to scientific fertilizers and cattle rations, 
and put before that board the importance of having a government 
experiment station for that purpose. He finally secured state appro- 
priations for the work, and an experiment station, the first in this 
country, was eventually established through his efforts. From 1875 
to 1877 he was director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 
Station, and he is still a member of the board of control of that im- 
portant organization. He was also the pioneer promoter of another 
important and fruitful enterprise, known as Investigations into the 
Laws of Nutrition and Food Economy, which resulted in the establish- 
ment of dietary standards which have since been regarded as authorita- 
tive by American students of domestic science. Actuated by the 
belief that the field of agricultural and physiological chemistry was 
a great opening for the student and experimenter, Professor Atwater 
continued his researches along those particular branches of science 
with the utmost success. He worked up statistics of food consumption 
and in collaboration with Professor Hempel of Dresden he elaborated 
a bomb calorimeter for determining the amount of potential energy 
in foods. He was one of the inventors of the Atwater-Rosa calorim- 
eter which demonstrates the theory that the law of conservation of 
energy obtains in the living organism and aids in the study of many 
physiological problems, and for which he was awarded the Elliott- 
Cresson Medal in 1900. His work along this line was of fourfold 
importance, indicating the true economy in the use of food, the 
establishment of due proportions in diet, rules for quantity, and the 
revelation of many popular errors in diet. From 1888 to 1902 he 
was director of Storrs' Experiment Station and from 1888 to 1891 
he was director of the Office of Experiment Stations, United States 
Department of Agriculture, which the Government had called him 



318 WILBUR OLIN ATWATEE 

to organize as a central office or clearing house for the institutions 
of like nature all over the country and the medium by which they 
might keep in touch with similar institutions in Europe. In 1891 
and 1893 he went to Europe to secure European contributors for 
the "Experiment Station Record" which he founded. From 1894 
to 1903 he was special agent in charge of the Nutrition Investiga- 
tions authorized by Congress and carried on by the United States 
Department of Agriculture. Since 1903 he has been chief of the 
Nutrition Investigations conducted by the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture. At the time of the World's Fair he 
collected and analyzed five hundred specimens of food materials on 
exhibition there. With F. G. Benedict, a fellow professor at Wesleyan, 
he conducted "An Experimental Inquiry Regarding the Nutritive 
Value of Alcohol" and served on the physiological sub-committee of 
the "Committee of Fifty for the Investigation of the Liquor Problem." 

In addition to organizing and developing the National Food 
Investigations, directing the office of Government Experiment Stations 
and conducting his classes at Wesleyan, Professor Atwater has written 
over one hundred and fifty papers on scientific subjects. He has been 
a frequent contributor to the standard scientific journals and these 
writings and his lectures comprise much valuable and original 
scientific literature. In 1895 he published for the Government 
"Methods and Results of Investigations in the Chemistry and 
Economy of Food," a most important work. 

As a teacher Professor Atwater is thorough, earnest, enthusiastic, 
and approachable. He has a remarkable gift of planning his work 
and of imparting his own scholarly knowledge. As an experimenter 
and investigator in the realm of science he stands in the foremost 
ranks and his deep interest in scientific research is embodied in his 
scientific library in Middletown, which is perhaps the most complete 
private library of its kind in this country. His intellectuality is that 
of a true student and scholar and his energy and perseverance in car- 
rying out his mental ambition are equally great. 

Professor Atwater has never narrowed his life to one of solely 
intellectual activity. He has taken a steady interest in politics 
and though formerly a Republican he styles himself at present a 
Mugwump, for he took exception to the Republican svipport of 
Blaine and is always "Independent" on local issues. He is an 



i 



WILBUR OLIN AT WATER 319 

actively interested member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of 
late years he has also been actively interested in national temperance 
reform, both in this country and in Europe. He is exceedingly fond 
of outdoor life and enjoys hunting and fishing and life in tne woods. 
As an alumnus and member of the faculty of Wesleyan he is greatly 
interested in the college life and growth. In August, 1874, he was 
married to Marcia Woodard, by whom he has had two children. He 
is a member of the Wesleyan fraternity, Phi Nu Theta, the Cosmos 
Club of Washington, D. C, the American Chemical Society, the 
American Physiological Society, the Washington Academy of Sciences, 
a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
a member of the Societe Chemique de Paris, the Deutsche Chemische 
Gesellschaft, associate member Societe d'Hygiene Alimentaire et de 
FAlimentation Eationelle de I'Homme, corresponding member Societe 
Koyal des Sciences Medicales et Naturelles de Bruxelles, foreign 
member of the Swedish Royal Academy, corresponding member of 
the Russian Imperial Military Academy of Medicine, associate mem- 
ber of the French National Society of Agriculture, and a member of 
many philanthropic organizations. This long list shows better than 
anything else Professor Atwater's broad interests, his international 
prominence in the world of science, and his active part in the 
intellectual life of his generation. In mind and achievement he 
is beyond doubt a great, practical, public benefactor, and one of the 
most advanced and able scientists of the age. 



OSCAR KUHNS 

KUHNS, OSCAE, A.M., L.H.D., author and educator, pro- 
fessor of Romance languages at Wesieyan University, Middle- 
town, Connecticut, was born in Columbia. Lancaster County, 
Pennsylvania, on February 21st, 1856. On both the paternal and the 
maternal sides he is descended from the oldest German and Swiss 
settlers of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the so-called Penn- 
sylvania Dutch. On his father's side his earliest ancestor in this 
country was Theobald Kuntz, as the name was then spelled, who was 
married at Lancaster, in 1745, to Maria Margaret Fortune, whose 
ancestors had left France at the Eevocation of the Edict of Nantes 
and had gone to Germany. This Theobald Kuntz was the son of 
Johann Francis Kuntz of Waldmohr, Zweibrucken, Germany. On 
his mother's side Oscar Kuhns traces his ancestry to Bishop John 
Herr, leader of the Swiss Quakers who made the first settlement of 
Lancaster in 1710. His great-grandfather, George Kuntz, was in the 
Revolutionary War and his maternal great-grandfather, Frederick 
Brown, was with General Arnold at the battle of Quebec and served all 
through the Revolution. Professor Kuhns is the youngest of four 
brothers, two of whom, George Washington and Walter Brown, died 
in childhood. It was the unselfishness and kindness of his other 
brother, Henry Clarence, that alone made possible an academic 
career for Oscar Kuhns. Professor Kuhns's father, William 
Kuhns, a blacksmith and inventor, was a native of Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, and a man of excellent mental endowment and 
strong religious convictions. He was interested in mechanics and 
applied science and was one of the first to work at photography, being 
a personal friend of Dr. John W. Draper, the founder of American 
photography. Professor Kuhns's mother was Rebecca Brown, a 
woman whose chief characteristic was intense piety, inherited from 
her Swiss-Quaker ancestors. He describes her as one "of a sweet 
and lovable disposition, who was universally loved and whose spiritual 
influence was very great." 



OSCAR KUHNS 321 

Though he was born in a village most of Oscar Kuhns's boyhood 
was spent in the city. He was exceedingly fond of reading and study 
and did not allow himself to be handicapped by lack of funds in secur- 
ing the best education. He prepared for college alone in the evenings 
after busy days at work as a clerk, and found time to become well 
acquainted with Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, and Dante, whom he 
loved and admired with the passion of a true scholar. He was 
graduated from Wesleyan University in 1885 and three years later 
received the degree of Master of Arts. Since then he has studied at 
the universities of Berlin, Geneva, Paris, and Eome and was granted, 
in 1904, the degree of L.H.D. by Dickinson College. He seemed 
to have a "call" to the study and teaching of languages, in which 
he had been interested from childhood, and he began to teach at 
Wesleyan, after receiving his Master's degree. 

In 1890 he became professor of Romance languages at Wesle3'an 
and he still fills that chair. His chief work outside of his immediate 
professional duties in the lecture room has been in writing and some 
very genuine and valuable literature has come from his pen. In 1895 
he published his scholarly "Treatment of Nature in Dante" which pro- 
claims the author to be a true student of that great master; indeed 
Professor Kuhns has been passionately fond of the great Italian poet 
since childhood. In 1904 he published "Dante and the English 
Poets," a most interesting piece of literary workmanship of which 
it has been said that "the amount of valuable material and data 
thus brought together is a matter for surprise and admiration." In 
1903 appeared his well-known "Great Poets of Italy," an interesting 
history of Italian literature, which is thorough, accurate, and con- 
cise and covers material which most writers would have spread over 
many volumes. He is also the author of "German and Swiss 
Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania, a Study of the so-called Penn- 
sylvania Dutch," an exhaustive history of those interesting colonists 
told in an entertaining and romantic but none the less authentic 
manner. He has also produced eight or ten successful text-books. 
His style is clear, coherent, and graceful and his method of writ- 
ing is that of a thorough and original student, who is capable of the 
finest discriminations, and of an artist in the power of selection and 
condensation of materials. 

Professor Kuhns is a member of the college fraternity, Psi 



322 OSCAR KUHNS 

Upsilon, of the Lancaster County Historical Society, the Modern 
Language Association, and of the Sons of the American Eevolution. 
In politics he is a Kepublican and in creed he affiliates with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. On the sixth of April, 1892, he mar- 
ried Lillie B. Conn of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, by whom he has had 
one child, Austin Hubberd. Professor Kuhns makes his home in 
Middletown, the seat of Wesleyan, his Alma Mater, and the center 
of his professional activities. 



CHARLES SMITH DAVIDSON 

DAVIDSON", CHARLES SMITH, retired superintendent of the 
Hartford Division of the New York, New Haven and Hart- 
ford Eailroad, was born in East Haven, New Haven County, 
Connecticut, November 9th, 1829, the son of Abijah Bradley David- 
son and Harriet Smith Davidson. His father was a farmer, who 
also conducted a public livery and was captain and commandant of 
the Second Cavalry, Governor's Horse Guard, and a man greatly in- 
terested in public affairs. Mr. Davidson's mother was a woman of 
firm and beautiful character, which had a lasting influence on her 
son's moral and spiritual life. The family trace their ancestry to 
Andrew Davidson, who came from England and was an early settler 
in East Haven, and their genealogy embraces many loyal Revolution- 
ary patriots and later defenders of their cause in the War of 1812. 

Strong, vigorous, and active Charles Davidson found his great- 
est pleasure as a boy in outdoor sports. He was brought up in New 
Haven and educated at the Lancastrian School there, where he took 
second highest honors for excellent scholarship. He delighted in 
reading, inclining most strongly to historical and mechanical works. 
After leaving school he worked for two years at various occupations 
and during that time became more and more impressed with the 
importance of "learning a trade," which he resolved to do. In 1847 
he went to work in a silver plating shop in New Haven. The follow- 
ing year he went to Springfield and served a three years' apprentice- 
ship in the American Machine Works, at the end of which he came 
to Hartford and entered the employ of the New York, New Haven 
and Hartford Railroad. His early resolution to be a master workman 
bore good fruit rapidly and he became mechanic, engineer, conductor, 
supervisor of construction, assistant superintendent and finally, in 
1872, superintendent of the Hartford Division of the railroad. He 
held this last highly responsible position with conspicuous capability 
and success until his retirement in December, 1903. The road is 
one of the largest, most important, and best managed in the country 



324 CHARLES SMITH DAVIDSON 

and the Hartford Division is one of its most important ones. Mr. 
Davidson's rare judgment, skill, faithfulness, and popularity have 
been great factors in promoting both public convenience and the 
financial standing of the road. 

Mr. Davidson was identified with the Democratic party until the 
nomination of Bryan, when he voted with the Republicans on the 
"Sound Money Issue." He has held several civil offices — in 1878 he 
was fire commissioner, in 1890 he became street commissioner, and in 
1893 he was a member of the police commission. He experienced a 
year's military service in the Second Company, Governor's Foot Guard, 
and is a veteran associate of that military organization now. He is 
a prominent thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Knights 
Templars, the Pyramid Temple, the Knights of Honor, the Order of 
Eed Men, and the Order of The Mystic Shrine. He is past eminent 
commander of the Washington Commandery, Knights Templars, and 
past dictator of Pioneer Lodge, Knights of Honor. He is also a 
member of the Hartford Club, of the Republican Club, and of the 
Franklin Gun Club. Home pleasures, automobiling, and club life 
are his favorite relaxations from business. His religious connections 
are with the Park Congregational Church, Hartford. 

On December 17th, 1857, Mr. Davidson married Catharine Anne 
Bartholomew, by whom he has had three children. One son, William 
Bartholomew, the only child still living, is cashier in the United 
States Bank, Hartford. Mr. Davidson believes that "young people 
will meet with success by living an honest, temperate, and upright 
life, with strict integrity in all business matters." 



MILES LEWIS PECK 

PECK, MILES LEWIS, of Bristol was born in that town July 
24th, 1849. He is a descendant of Paul Peck, who came from 
England to Boston in 1635, In 1636 he moved to Hartford, 
where he owned a farm on Washington Street, near the present State 
Capitol, and was a deacon in the First Church of Hartford. William 
Lewis, another ancestor, emigrated from England in 1633. His 
great-grandson, Josiah Lewis, and Zebulon Peck, the great-grand- 
eon of Paul Peck, moved to Bristol in 1748, mainly to receive the 
benefit of the ministrations of Rev. Samuel Newell, first pastor of 
the church in Bristol. Their descendants have always been prominent 
citizens of Bristol. Other ancestors of Mr. Peck are Josiah Wins- 
low, a brother of Governor Winslow of Massachusetts ; Henry Adams, 
of Braintree, Massachusetts, whose descendants include John Adams 
and John Quincy Adams, presidents of the United States; Gov- 
ernor William Bradford, who came over in the "Mayflower" in 1620 
Governor John Webster, who was governor of Connecticut in 1656 
John Marsh, who was one of the original proprietors of Hartford 
Deacon John Buell, one of the original proprietors of Litchfield, and 
Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, who was one of the original proprietors of 
Norwich. 

Mr. Peek's parents were Josiah Tracy Peck and Ellen Lewis 
Barnard. His father was an insurance agent in Bristol, and a man 
who was much interested in public affairs. He was deputy collector 
of internal revenue during the Civil War, and was conspicuous in 
all matters connected with the prosecution of the War. He was 
later judge of probate for the District of Bristol. He was a man 
who took a warm interest in his town and country, and in everything 
that pertained to their welfare. 

Miles was not a strong boy, and spent much of his time on his 
father's farm, going to the local schools about six months every year. 
He attended Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, for 
a short time, and later the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut at 



328 MILES LEWIS PECK 

Cheshire. He was a good scholar, being very fond of mathematics, 
and while in school took most of the higher mathematical courses, 
with a view to fitting himself for an engineer. In 1868 and 1869 
he spent a year in Europe in study and travel. On returning from 
Europe he began his life work, assisting his father in the insurance 
business. He was appointed a county surveyor, and for about three 
years did much local surveying in Bristol. 

In 1870, the Bristol Savings Bank was organized, mainly through 
the efforts of Mr. Peck and his father. His father was treasurer of 
the bank for the first year, but the son did most of the work. In 
1871 Mr. Peck, then twenty-one years of age, became treasurer of the 
Bristol Savings Bank, a position which he has held up to the present 
time. Mr. Peck's main work in life has been the building up and 
management of the Bristol Savings Bank, and the great success of 
the bank has been chiefly due to his efforts. 

In 1877, on the death of his father, Mr. Peck succeeded to the 
insurance agency which he has conducted ever since. In 1905 he was 
elected president of the Bristol and Plainville Tramway Company, 
of which he had been a director for some years. This company has 
a railway and electric lighting plant, and, in 1905, under Mr. Peck's 
direction, built a gas plant and laid gas mains in about twelve miles 
of streets in Bristol. The company also owns a public heating service 
with mains in about one mile of streets, supplying heat to stores 
and houses. He is also president of the Liberty Bell Company, manu- 
facturing bells, reels, trolley harps, and other small hardware. He 
is a director in the Bristol National Bank. 

Mr. Peck was married October 18th, 1871, to Mary Harriet 
Seymour. They have had five children, all of whom are now living. 

Mr. Peck has always been a Eepublican. He has been much 
interested in town matters and local politics, and was chair- 
man of the Eepublican Town Committee for a short time. In 1889 
he was chairman of a special committee appointed by the town of 
Bristol to procure a site for the High School, and he has been a 
member of the High School Committee for many years. He has 
been a town assessor, and was a member of a special committee which 
appraised all the property in Bristol in 1897, as a basis for assessing 
all real estate at its full value for taxing purposes. He was 
warden of the borough of Bristol in 1895 and 1896, and 



MILES LEWIS PECK 329 

rendered the borough valuable service. Prior to that time 
Bristol had had no sewer system. In view of the growth of the 
town, a sewer system had become a necessity, and, under Mr. Peck's 
lead, the present system was installed. The borough issued bonds 
to an amount sufhcient to defray the cost, and these were floated by 
Mr. Peck. Sewers were built through all the principal streets of the 
borough, and to a large tract of sandy land about one and one- 
half miles from the center, where large filtration beds were con- 
structed. These beds were among the earliest built in this State. 
The procuring of the land and the rights of way, the building of the 
beds and laying of the pipes, and the assessment of sewer benefits 
on most of the property of the borough were, in the main, his work, 
and done under his direction. The difficult task of assessment of 
benefits and purchasing of rights of way was accomplished by Mr. 
Peck without involving the borough in any lawsuits, and with 
results satisfactory to the borough and the property holders. It has 
proved an excellent system, and of great value to the borough. 

Mr. Peck is a Mason and was chairman of the committee which 
erected the Masonic Temple in Bristol in 1892. He is a member of 
the Congregational Church. He is very fond of music, and from 1873 
to 1887 he played the organ and directed the music in the Congre- 
gational Church in Bristol. As a young man he played the cornet in 
the local band and the cello in the local orchestra. He has always 
been much interested in outdoor sports, playing baseball as a young 
man, and being fond of seeing games in later years. He has been 
for many years captain of the Bristol Wicket Team, an organization 
of much local fame. He is also an enthusiastic tennis player, and he 
is especially fond of a game of whist of an evening. 

To young men Mr. Peck says: "Stick faithfully and constantly 
to your business, but do not neglect your duties to your church and 
country. Every citizen should do his part in caucuses, in voting and 
in promoting good government and righteousness in the community 
where he lives." 



STEPHEN EBENEZER REED 

REED, STEPHEN" EBENEZER, bank official and manufac- 
turer, was born in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, 
December 12th, 1845. His father, John Bowden Reed, was 
a carriage manufacturer, burgess of the town of Stamford and 
treasurer of the school board. He was a strong churchman and 
prominent in the councils of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal 
Church. He married Almira Ann, daughter of Benjamin and 
Laura Terpening Many of Newburgh, New York. Stephen Ebenezer 
Reed is of the seventh generation from John Reed, who was born 
in Cornwall, England, was a soldier in the army under Cromwell, 
and upon the restoration to the throne of Charles II., in 1660, he 
emigrated to New England and settled in Norwalk, Connecticut Col- 
ony, which was known as the New Haven Colony after 1664. 

Stephen Ebenezer Reed was brought up in the village of Stam- 
ford, where he attended the public school and when fifteen years of 
age engaged as a clerk in the Stamford Bank, afterward the Stam- 
ford National Bank, taking the position at the request of Francis 
R. Leeds, at the time cashier of the bank. He served the bank as 
clerk and teller from July, 1860, to January, 1865, when he resigned 
to accept a clerkship in the office of the Stamford Manufacturing 
Company, where he remained from January, 1865, to January, 1887, 
as clerk, and since that date as a director and secretary of the 
corporation. He was a charter member of the Stamford Savings 
Bank and served as a member of its board of directors since 1880. 

On October 17th, 1871, Mr. Reed was married to Jennie, daughter 
of Frederick J. and Mary A. Calhoun and the three children born 
of this marriage are Frank Calhoun, who died in infancy ; the second 
son, Herbert Calhoun Reed, was graduated at Sheffield Scientific 
School, Yale University, in the class of 1895, with honors in 
chemistry, and he became the chemist of the Stamford Manufacturing 
Company. He is recognized as one of the leading tanning chemists 
of the United States, and was elected president of the American 



STEPHEN EBENEZER REED 331 

Leather Chemists' Association in November, 1905. He was a member 
of the Board of Councilmen during the years 1903 and 1904 and 
ran for mayor of the city of Stamford in November, 1904, on the 
Republican ticket, but was defeated by Homer S. Cummings, the 
Democratic candidate. The third son, Clarence Marsh Reed, was 
graduated at Yale University, A.B., 1897, with the highest honors, 
and while at Yale he belonged to the university baseball nine. He 
studied law in the New York University Law School and was 
graduated with honors, LL.B., in 1899, after which he held a position 
with the law firm of Alexander & Greene, New York City, up to the 
time of his death. He died at his home in Stamford, May 24th, 1902, 
in the twenty-sixth year of his age. 

From his eighteenth year (1863) Mr. S. E. Reed has been a mem- 
ber of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church, a vestryman 
since 1868, junior warden since 1891, and senior warden since 1901. 
His political affiliation was with the Democratic party up to 1896, 
when he Joined the Republican party on the issue of gold as a 
standard of value. His early manhood days found him an earnest 
worker in the gymnasium and to this physical culture he credits his 
vigorous physique. 



WILLIAM WHEELWRIGHT SKIDDY 

S KIDDY, WILLIAM WHEELWRIGHT, a leading manufac- 
turer of Stamford, was born in New York City, April 2Gth, 
1845. He is of English ancestry and his forefathers came to 
this country before the Eevolutionary War and settled in New York 
and Virginia. His father, a man of firm character and remarkable 
energy, was a naval architect, who, as such, did great service to his 
country in the War of 1813. 

Mr. Skiddy was brought up in New York City and his parents 
were so situated as to be able to give him a good education before 
he started his business career. After attending the local public 
schools he was sent to the celebrated Russell Military School at New 
Haven. Later he went to Yale where he was graduated with the 
class of 1865, receiving the degree of Ph.B. After graduation he 
became a clerk in the Wall Street office of his uncle, Francis Skiddy, 
where he remained two years and became interested in the coal 
mining business, in which he was subsequently engaged for eight 
years. In 1875 he became connected with the Stamford Manufac- 
turing Company and, in 1887, he was made its president. He is 
also a director of the Stamford National Bank, of the Stamford 
Savings Bank, and of the Stamford Trust Company. These enter- 
prises have derived the benefit of his executive genius, his untiring 
energy, and his determination to overcome every obstacle to progress. 
It is a well known fact that Mr. Skiddy's fruitful activities 
have not been confined to business life. He has been promi- 
nent in politics, in the state militia, and in church affairs. 
In 1884 and again in 1893 he was sent by the Democrats 
as a state delegate to the national convention. After a highly 
creditable service in the militia, he was made state commis- 
sary general during the administration of Governor Waller. Since 
1875 he has been vestryman of St. John's Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and has several times been sent as a lay delegate from Con- 
necticut to the general convention and to the diocesan convention of 



WILLIAM WHEELWRIGHT SKIDDY 333 

his church, and has been for many years treasuror of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of the United States of America, He is a member 
of several prominent clubs, among them the Church Club and the 
University Club of New York, and he is one of Yale's most active 
alumni. Although his business affairs take up a great portion of 
his time, he is fond of all outdoor athletic sports and finds them 
helpful as a relaxation from his daily work. 

In 1867 Mr. Skiddy was married to Eleanor M. Gay. He has 
had three children, two of whom are living. William died in 1901; 
Lillie is now Mrs. Willard Parker, Jr., and Adele is now Mrs. E. W. 
Carle. 

Honesty, truthfulness, courage, and, above all, character — these 
have been his ideals in life. They were traits well marked in his 
father, and ones which he himself inherited and has conscientiously 
cultivated. The early moral and spiritual teachings of his father 
and mother left a lasting impression on his life, and to their influence 
he attributes all the good he has accomplished in life. He is an 
ardent reader and has drawn many helpful inspirations from the 
lives of prominent men and from novels descriptive of character. 
He was fortunate in starting his active career equipped with a 
thorough education and under the guidance of his uncle; and, when 
he was thrown on his own resources, he soon displayed that high 
executive ability which has brought prosperity to himself and to all 
institutions with which he has been connected. 



ARTHUR MORTIMER DICKINSON 

DICKINSON, COL. ARTHUK MORTIMER, manufacturer 
aud military man, was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Decem- 
ber 23rd, 1859. His early ancestors were prominent in the 
Revolution and were especially active in the affairs at Saybrook 
Point. In later times members of the family have taken important 
parts in the manufacturing history of Waterbury. Colonel Dick- 
inson's father was Charles Dickinson, a manufacturer and president 
of the Benedict & Burnham Company, Waterbury's largest manu- 
facturing concern, of which Colonel Dickinson is now secretary. 
Charles Dickinson was a man of great business ability, public spirit, 
and geniality. He was alderman and police commissioner and 
president of the Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury Railroad. Col- 
onel Dickinson's mother was Sarah (Lynde) Dickinson. 

A perfectly healthy boy, the Colonel in his youth was greatly 
interested in athletics and outdoor sports, was devoted to music and 
in later years has developed considerable musical ability. He was 
brought up in Waterbury and educated at the Episcopal Academy of 
Cheshire, the Waterbury English and Classical School and entered 
Yale with the class of '82. 

In 1880 he left college and entered the employ of the Benedict & 
Burnham Manufacturing Company and ten years later he was its 
secretary. In addition to this position he holds that of assistant 
treasurer of the Holmes, Booth & Hayden Company of Waterbury. 
For twelve years Colonel Dickinson served in the Connecticut National 
Guard. In 1889 he was adjutant with the rank of captain on Colonel 
Doherty's staff in the Second Regiment, C. N. G. In 1893 he became 
Major of the Second Regiment and was afterwards promoted to 
the rank of lieutenant-colonel, which he held until his resignation 
in July, 1900. 

Colonel Dickinson is a member of many fraternal orders and 
social organizations, including Continental Lodge No. 76 F. and A. 
M., Eureka Chapter No. 22 R. A. M., Waterbury Council No. 21 R. 



ARTHUR MORTIMER DICKINSON 335 

and S. M., Clark Commandery No. 7 Knights Templar, Lafayette 
Sovereign Consistory A. A. S. R., in which he has taken the thirty- 
second degree, the Waterbury Club and the Quinnipiack Club of New 
Haven. In politics he has always been loyal to the Republican 
party. His religious connections are with the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. Colonel Dickinson has never married. 



HENRY HART PECK 

PECK, HENRY HART, retired merchant. State senator, and 
the president of the Dime Savings Bank of Watorbury, New 
Haven County, Connecticut, was born in Berlin, Hartford 
County, Connecticut, December 25th, 1838. His father was Selden 
Peck, a farmer, who held numerous town offices, and his mother was 
Lucy Hart Peck, through whom he is a descendant of many dis- 
tinguished ancestors. One of the most distinguished of his maternal 
ancestors was Deacon Stephen Hart, who came from Braintree, Eng- 
land, and settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633. He became 
later a deacon in the Rev. Thomas Hooker's Church at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and came with his band to Hartford, was a proprietor 
of Hartford in 1639 and of Farmington in 1673. He was twice a 
prominent member of the General Court. Mr. Peck may also trace 
his ancestry to the noted divine, Rev. Thomas Hooker, so famous for 
his part in Colonial history. Another ancestor. Gen. Selah Heart, 
was an officer in the Revolutionary army and served throughout the 
War, except for a two years' imprisonment in New York. Another 
ancestor. Deacon Powel Peck, came from England to America in 
1635 and was another member of Hooker's band. He was one of the 
leading men of the colony and held many important public offices. 
The first seventeen years of Mr. Peck's life were spent in the 
country on his father's farm. After a country school education he 
attended the Kellogg Academy of Meriden and began his mercantile 
career as a clerk in a dry goods store in New Britain in 1857, and 
three years later he formed a partnership with Charles Miller in Water- 
bury, the firm being Miller & Peck, dealers in dry goods and carpets. 
Mr. Peck continued in this business until his retirement in 1887, 
when he withdrew from the firm and gave up active business. Next 
to dry goods his chief business interest has been in the Dime Savings 
Bank of Waterbury, of which he is and has been for many years the 
president. 



HENRY HART PECK 3S9 

Mr. Peck is on the board of directors of the Waterbury Hospital 
and is a generous supporter of that and many other institutions. His 
generosity and benevolence have led him to do much for the needy of 
his town. In politics he is a Republican and he represented his party 
in the General Assembly of 1886, and is a present State senator from 
the fifteenth district. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason 
and a member of Clark Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also 
a member of the Union League Club of New Haven, of the Water- 
bury Club, and of the Home Club of Meriden. He is a liberal 
supporter of the Protestant Episcopal Church and greatly interested 
in its growth. His public spirit, keen business sense, and warm- 
hearted philanthropy combine to make him a leader of men. He is 
particularly interested in helping young men forward and onward 
and he advises them to cultivate above everything else "habits of 
industry and economy." 



ARCHIBALD MCNEIL 

McNEIL, ARCHIBALD, proprietor of the wholesale bituminous 
coal business, styled Archibald McNeil & Sons, of Bridge- 
port, Connecticut, was born in that city July 2nd, 1843. 
His ancestry is traceable to many substantial Colonial settlers; 
men active in the wars and seafaring life of the country they adopted. 
The first known ancestor in this country was Archibald McNeil who is 
mentioned in the town records of Branford, Connecticut, early in 
1735. He married a daughter of Rev. Samuel Russell, one of the 
founders of Yale College. This first Archibald McNeil was the owner 
and supercargo of the "Peggie and Mollie," a brigantine engaged in 
the West India trade. He was one of the founders of Free Masonry 
in Connecticut, and a charter member of Hiram Lodge No. 1 of New 
Haven, Connecticut. Captain Archibald McNeil, his son, was born 
in Branford in 1736, and was prominently identified with the 
military affairs of his time. He was captain in the French and 
Indian wars, and was a friend of Benedict Arnold before he identified 
himself with the English cause. His son, William McNeil, graduated 
from Yale in 1777, and became a gunner on the "Marquis De La- 
fayette," a boat engaged in the lucrative occupation of privateering 
which was then sanctioned by the government. He made several 
important captures and became captain of a vessel employed in West 
India trade. While on a voyage to Martinique he was captured by the 
French and taken prisoner to France. He made his escape through 
Masonry, and lived to return to America. 

Abram Archibald McNeil, Mr. McNeil's father, was also a sea- 
faring man and a lighthouse keeper. He founded the system of 
lighthouses at Bridgeport, and established the light at the mouth 
of the Bridgeport harbor in 1844. He married Mary Hults, a woman 
whose influence was particularly strong upon her son's intellectual 
life. Mr. McNeil was brought up in a village, and educated at 
various private schools, and at the Hopkins Grammar School, New 
Haven. 



ARCHIBALD MCNEIL 341 

In 1863 Mr. McNeil formed a partnership with his brother, 
Charles H., in the fruit and general produce business. For two 
years previous to this he had been clerk in his brother's store. In 1876 
they moved to New York and conducted a butter and cheese store 
there. Later they carried on export and import trade with Cuba, 
dealing in coal and other products. In 1888 Mr. McNeil came back 
to Bridgeport and established the extensive bituminous coal business 
in which he has continued ever since. He represents six large coal 
producing companies, and supplies many railroads, factories, and 
dealers. 

In 1881 Mr. McNeil was married to Jean McKenzie Clan Eanald. 
They have three sons. Mr. McNeil is a member of several clubs, 
including the Algonquin Club of which he was the first president, the 
Bridgeport Yacht Club of which he has been commodore, the Sea- 
side Club, and the Bridgeport Club. His favorite recreations are 
automobiling and yachting. In politics he is a Democrat, and has 
held many local offices. He was elected State senator in 1903, and 
served two years. He was again made State senator from his district, 
in 1906, by a plurality of 128. 

Mr. McNeil's advice to young men is as admirable as it is con- 
cise, for he says to them — "Lead an honest life.'' 



WALTER JAMES LEAVENWORTH 

LEAVENWORTH, COL. WALTER JAMES, treasurer of the 
R. Wallace & Son's Manufacturing Company of Wallingford, 
Connecticut, president of the First National Bank of Walling- 
ford and former Colonel of the Second Regiment, Connecticut National 
Guard, was born in Roxbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, Feb- 
ruary 20th, 1845. Like all the Leavenworths in America he is a 
descendant of Thomas Leavenworth, who came from England to 
Woodbury, Connecticut, about 1665, and of his son. Dr. Thomas 
Leavenworth, a prominent and wealthy physician. Another of Mr. 
Leavenworth's ancestors, John Leavenworth, born 1739, served in the 
Revolution. Another, Lemuel, born 1743, was one of those who resisted 
Burgoyne's invasion and also participated in the battle of Bennington. 
James M. Leavenworth, the Colonel's father, was a millwright and 
carpenter for the Wallace Manufacturing Company. He was greatly 
interested in educational matters and was a devoted lover of booke, 
His wife, the Colonel's mother, was Julia Leavenworth, a woman of 
strong character and influence, who was undoubtedly the source of her 
son's determination to succeed in life. 

Endowed with excellent health and brought up in the country 
Mr. Leavenworth spent a boyhood full of vigorous activity. His 
education was confined to that of the district schools and terminated 
when he was seventeen. He worked at odd times during his school- 
ing on the farm and at carpentering. He inherited his father's 
fondness for books and his reading was broad and extensive. The 
books that made the greatest impression on his mind were Rollin's 
Ancient History and Abbott's Napoleon Bonaparte. 

After leaving school Mr. Leavenworth started to be a joiner, as 
has been said, but soon gave it up to enter the office of Hall, Elton 
& Company of Wallingford, Connecticut, in which firm he was rapidly 
promoted to the position of secretary. 

In 1877 Mr. Leavenworth was made treasurer of the R. Wallace 
& Son's Manufacturing Company, his present responsible office. He 



"WALTER JAMES LEAVENWORTH 343 

has charge of placing their products on the market, and has done 
much toward the development of the business to its present vast 
proportions. He is also a director in the Wallingford Gas Light 
Company, president of the First National Bank and he has been 
president of the Wallingford Board of Trade, and chairman of the 
Board of Water Commissioners. In political faith he has always been 
a Republican. In 1897 he represented Wallingford in the State 
Legislature and he was burgess of the borough of Wallingford for 
four years. 

For nearly fifteen years Mr. Leavenworth experienced active 
military service and his rapid promotions show better than anything 
else his excellent military work. In September, 1871, he was lieuten- 
ant in Company K, Second Regiment, Connecticut National Guard. 
In 1874 he was made captain, in 1882 lieutenant-colonel, and in 1885 
colonel of his regiment, and he held the rank of colonel until he 
resigned in 1889. 

In 1867 Mr. Leavenworth married Jeannette Wallace, who was a 
daughter of Robert Wallace, president of the R. Wallace & Son's 
Manufacturing Company. Of the four children born of this marriage 
three are now living : C. W. Leavenworth, Mrs. Bessie L. Leach, and 
John W. Leavenworth. The family are members of the Congrega- 
tional Church. The Colonel is a member of the Wallingford Club, of 
which he is a former president, and of the Union League Club of 
New Haven. His favorite out-of-door amusement is automobiling. 

Colonel Leavenworth believes failures in life to be due to not com- 
mencing to be earnest sufficiently early in life. He thinks that "a 
young man of even moderate ability can, in this country, achieve 
almost any success in life he may desire; the price is study and 
attention to business." 



MOSES AVERILL PENDLETON 

PENDLETON", MOSES AVERILL, vice-president of the First 
National Bank of Stonington and of the Stonington Savings 
Bank, was born in the borough of Stonington, February 19th, 
1844. His father, Moses Pendleton, was a banker and merchant 
who held many minor offices in his town. From early Colonial times 
the Pendleton family has been associated with the history of New 
England. The first member of the family to come to America was 
Brian Pendleton, who settled in Massachusetts in 1634. Major 
Brian Pendleton was president of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 
1681. Captain James Pendleton served in King Philip's War. Col. 
William Pendleton was prominent in the Ehode Island militia, and 
several members of the family served in the Eevolutionary War, 

After attending the public schools Mr. Pendleton, at the age of 
seventeen, became a clerk in a grocery store. Urged on by an ambition 
to succeed he determined to do his best in this position which he held 
for several years. In 1873 he became town and probate clerk, serv- 
ing for over twenty years. Later he became interested in the bank- 
ing business and he is now director and vice-president of the First 
National Bank of Stonington and of the Stonington Savings Bank. 
For twenty years he has been a justice of the peace. In politics he 
has always been a Republican. He is a Baptist, and since 1897 he has 
been clerk and treasurer of the First Baptist Church. 

In 1866 Mr. Pendleton was married to Amelia Barker Sheffield. 
Of their two children, one is now living. Their home in Stonington 
is at No. 45 Main Street. 

Advising young men how to succeed in life, Mr. Pendleton gives 
as the principles which he himself has followed: "Success can be 
best obtained by establishing early in life good habits and a fixed 
purpose to do always one's best in whatever field one may select." 



DEWITT CLINTON SKILTON 

KILTON, DEWITT CLINTON, president of the Phoenix 
Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and one of the 
most competent insurance underwriters in the United States, 
was born in Thomaston, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on the 11th 
of January, 1839. His first American ancestor. Dr. Henry Skilton, 
was born in Coventry, England, in 1718, and sailed for America in a 
"gun ship" in 1735, in his seventeenth year. After arriving in 
Boston he lived first in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and then in Preston, 
Connecticut, where he married the daughter of Joseph Avery of 
Norwich. He moved several times, and, finally in his old age, to 
Watertown, where he died in 1802. He was the first physician 
to practice medicine in Southingtou, Connecticut. Other ancestors 
of Mr. Skilton were among the most prominent settlers of 
Hartford County. The list includes such historical names as 
Hon. John Steel (who came to Hartford with Rev. Thomas 
Hooker in 1636) ; Hon. John Wadsworth, the half brother of 
Captain Wadsworth, to whom is attributed the fame of concealing 
the Connecticut Charter in the old charter oak; Sir William South- 
mayd ; Hon. Matthew Allyn, one of the original parties to the royal 
charter, and Hon. John Allyn, called "the great secretary" in the 
"History of Connecticut" ; Captain William Judd and Timothy Judd, 
who represented Waterbury in the Colonial government for forty 
years, and many others distinguished for their part in Colonial and 
State history. 

Mr. Skilton's education was the brief and simple one afforded by 
a "district school," for at the age of fourteen his father's death made 
it necessary for him to begin his work in life. He worked in a 
manufacturing establishment in Thomaston until 1855, when he 
moved to Hartford to become a bookkeeper in a dry goods store. 
Inherent business ability and ambition made him capable of earning 
his living when still a boy, and his purpose to succeed was of early 
formation and speedy fulfillment. In 1861 he became a clerk 



348 DEWITT CLINTON SKILTON 

in the office of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, the 
business in which he was later to make his mark. In 1862, 
in response to a call for volunteers to preserve the Union, Mr. 
Skilton enlisted in the Twenty-second Regiment, Connecticut 
Volunteers, in which he was elected second lieutenant. His 
service in the army was very creditable, and he was mustered out as 
first lieutenant. He then resumed his clerkship in the insurance 
company. In 1865 he married Ann Jeanette Andrews. They have 
had two children, neither of whom is now living. 

In 1867, Mr. Skilton was elected secretary, in 1888, vice-president, 
and in 1891 president of the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hart- 
ford ; the last position he still retains. He has identified himself 
with many progressive and important reforms in the insurance busi- 
ness. He was a member of the "Committee of Twenty" that pre- 
pared the standard form of fire insurance policy blanks, as ordered 
by the State of New York, and later adopted by other states. He is 
deservedly regarded as one of the most able insurance underwriters of 
our day. He is a director of the Hartford National Bank, a corpora- 
tor and trustee of the State Savings Bank, and was for three years the 
president of the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Mr. Skilton is 
a member of the Army and Navy Club of New York and of Connecti- 
cut, of the Hartford Club, Golf Club, and Country Club, of the 
Grand Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion of the United States. In politics he is a Republican. His 
religious connections are with the Congregational Church. 

Mr. Skilton's advice to young Americans is worthy their careful 
regard. He advocates "sound reading for self-education in addition 
to school or college education ; early fixing the mind upon a purpose 
to accomplish and 'everlastingly keeping at it,' determined to be 
firmly planted on the front line; striving to be a leader, keeping in 
mind the virtue of correct living and a high standard of business 
methods." He is himself a striking example of a self-educated man, 
whose purpose was "early fixed" aiid whose determination to be 
"firmly planted on the front line" has met with signal success. 



JOHN JOSEPH PHELAN 

PHELAN, JOHN JOSEPH, lawyer, city official in Bridgeport, 
State legislator, was born in Wexford, County of Wexford, 
Ireland, June 24th, 1851. His father, Michael Phelan, was 
a marble and granite dealer, a man of high intellectuality and 
integrity, who married Catharine, daughter of Patrick and Catharine 
White of Wexford. 

As a child John J. Phelan was fond of home, books, and music 
and in 1865 he was graduated at the Christian Brothers School in 
Wexford, Ireland. As his parents were poor, he went to work with 
his father at the age of fourteen, having just lost his mother 
by death, and when sixteen his father died, leaving him the 
oldest of six children. He determined to try for success 
in the United States and he arrived in Bridgeport, Con- 
necticut, in April, 1870, and obtained work in the marble and granite 
works of Eugene Silliman. The next year he worked in Brooklyn, 
New York, then in Middletown, Connecticut, returning to Bridge- 
port, where in 1874 he became a partner with M. G. Keane in the 
same line of business and the partnership continued until May, 1878. 
In 1875 he determined to study law at the University of the City of 
New York and arranged with his partner to work one-half of each 
day. While going to and from New York he studied on the train 
and late every night, and he was graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 
1878. His great ambition on becoming a lawyer was not only to win 
approval in his profession, but to obtain such worthy prominence in 
social and political life as would by example allay race and religious 
prejudice and tend to prove the loyalty and integrity of Roman 
Catholics as American citizens. He read besides the law, history, 
biography, and many books of ancient and modern authors to better 
fit him for his life work. 

He began the practice of law in Bridgeport in 1878, was a member 
of the board of aldermen in the city of Bridgeport 1880-84, town 
attorney for the town of Bridgeport 1884-85, city attorney for Bridge- 



350 JOHN JOSEPH PHELAN 

port 1889-90, secretary of state of Connecticut 1893-94, having been 
elected in 1890, but kept out of otfice through the contest of the 
election of the head of the ticket, Gov. Luzon B. Morris, and he was 
reelected in 1892. He was chairman of the Connecticut delegation 
to the Catholic Congress held at Chicago, Illinois, during the period 
of the Columbian Exposition in 1893. He was a member of the board 
of trade of Bridgeport. His legislative service to Connecticut was as 
a representative in 1885 and 1886. He was the choice of the Demo- 
cratic minority for speaker of the House in 1886 and was a member 
of the judiciary committee during his legislative service. He was 
president of the Irish Land League of Bridgeport in 1881-82, chief 
officer of Park City Council, Knights of Columbus, in 1885, and 
Supreme Knight of the national organization. Knights of Columbus, 
from 1886 to 1897. His political faith he finds exemplified in the 
platform of the Democratic party and his religious faith in the 
Roman Catholic Church. His recreation he finds in travel, the 
theater, music, and reading. He was married December 25th, 1879, to 
Annie E., daughter of David and Mary Fitzgerald of Stratford. 

His work in professional and political life and in behalf of his 
race and creed brings him prominently before the public as an 
eloquent and forceful speaker and in a retrospect of the latter he says : 
"I am satisfied in having fairly though crudely attempted to blaze 
the path of tolerance and confidence for Catholics in this state and 
elsewhere, but regret that means beyond my control have prevented the 
fulfillment of my desires, thus leaving to others of my faith and race 
the duty of rounding out our virtues to the better understanding and 
appreciation of state and nation." To young men he says: "Be 
honorable, courageous, and just, endeavor to be virtuous, industrious, 
and persevering, be humble, charitable, truthful, and patriotic, observe 
the Golden Eule." 



ALBERT HAMILTON EMERY 

EMERY, ALBEET HAMILTON, civil and mechanical engineer 
and inventor, was born in Mexico, Oswego County, New York, 
June 31st, 1834. His father, Samuel Emery, was a farmer in 
the town of Mexico, Oswego County, and married Catharine Shepard. 
His first American ancestor, John Emery, was born in England, 
September 29th, 1598, son of John and Agnes Emery of Romsey, 
Hampshire County, familiarly known as Hants, England. He sailed 
from Southampton, April 3rd, 1635, with his brother Anthony, 
landed in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, June 3rd, 1635, became 
one of the original proprietors of the plantation of Contocook, Massa- 
chusetts Bay, and subsequently located in Newbury. 

Albert Hamilton Emery was a delicate child up to his tenth year 
when he began to gain strength through manual labor on his father's 
farm. This farm work proved useful and beneficial. His mother 
early taught him that whatever he did he should do well. She also 
directed his reading and he became familiar with the Bible, Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's Progress, and Dick's philosophical works. Aside from his 
training in the district school, he paid his own tuition while attending 
the Mexico ^^cademy during two terms, after he was eighteen years 
old. He was a land surveyor in his native town, then taught school, 
then took up railroad surveying, and in this way helped to pay his 
expenses through the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New 
York, from which he was graduated as a civil engineer in 1858. His 
chief inspiration to acquire a thorough knowledge of his chosen pro- 
fession came through the talks, advice, and example of an elder sister. 
He credits home life as the strongest influence on his own success, 
and his school life as second. He began his professional career in 
the fall of 1S61, as draughtsman and mechanical engineer for General 
Richard Delafield, of the United States Corps of Engineers, who had 
charge of the fortifications of the state and harbor of New York, 1861- 
62, and after 1862 he devoted himself to experimenting with and 
working out his own inventions, including a testing machine for 
determining the strength and tension of iron and steel, which became 
recognized as "one of the greatest pieces of engineering that 
has ever been done." At the annual fair of the Massachusettp 



352 ALBERT HAMILTON EMEEY 

Charitable Mechanics Association held in 1881, the Boston Society of 
Arts and Sciences exhibited a number of specimens of wood and metal 
which had been tested on this machine; and the machine, though 
not at the Fair, was open to the inspection of visitors of the Fair. It 
happened that year that a grand medal of honor had been provided, to 
be awarded to that "exhibit most conducive to human welfare," which 
was the highest requirement that any exhibit could be called upon to 
sustain, and to insure its proper award. The American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences was asked to appoint from its members a committee 
to visit the exhibition and award this medal. The jury so selected 
awarded this medal to Mr. Emery. In the judges' report the machine 
is referred to as "the greatest invention in mechanism of the present 
century." The machine came into constant use and its determinations 
are invaluable to the engineering, mechanical, and scientific world. 
In 1905 the United States and foreign patents issued to Mr. Emery 
numbered one hundred and forty. 

He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science and a member of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers. In national politics Mr. Emery has always been a 
Republican, never having occasion to change his political faith. He 
was brought up from childhood in the Presbyterian Sunday School 
and joined the Presbyterian Church when sixteen years of age. In 
1881 he came into sympathy with the teachings of Swedenborg, in 
which he fully believes. 

To young men he says: "If I had tried to do only one-tenth 
as much as I have tried to do, I might have done ten times more 
than I have done." His advice to them is: "Do nothing but 
what you try to do well, and ever remember that we all owe constant 
service to Him who is our very best friend and who can only give 
us true happiness and true success." 

Mr. Emery was married March 3rd, 1875, to Mrs. Fanny B. 
Myers, daughter of Frederick A. King and Amanda (Howard) King 
of Sharon, Connecticut, and they make their home in Stamford, 
Connecticut. She had one daughter and they have one son, 
Albert H., Jr., who was graduated at Cornell University in the class 
of 1898 as a mechanical engineer, receiving one of the two prizes 
which were given to the graduating ^class in mechanical engineering. 
Since graduation he has been engaged with his father in engineering 
work. The daughter, Maggie, is now Mrs. G. A. Clyde of Rome, New- 
York. 




co^iAJtJy^ 




EVERETT JOHN LAKE 

LAKE, EVEEETT JOHN, of Hartford, senator from the first 
district and prominent in the business life of the State Capi- 
tal, is a native of Woodstock, Windham County, Connecti- 
cut, of which town his ancestors on his mother's side, sturdy Scotch- 
men, were among the first settlers. He was born February 8th, 1871, 
the son of Thomas A. and Martha A. (Cockings) Lake. His father, 
whose ancestors coming from England were early settlers in Concord, 
New Hampshire, was for many years a lumber merchant in Rockville, 
Connecticut, and subsequently in Hartford, and was prominent in 
public life. He was representative from the town of Woodstock, in the 
legislature of 1885, was a member of the Republican State Central 
Committee and State senator in the session of 1897. He also served 
with much credit as collector of internal revenue, in Hartford. 

The son's education was begun in the country school at South 
Woodstock, Connecticut, and when the family had removed from 
Woodstock to the West was continued there until he was graduated 
at the age of sixteen, from the Stromsburg High School of Stroms- 
burg, Nebraska, in the class of 1887. Thence he went to the Wor- 
cester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he 
was graduated with the degree of S.B., in the class of 1890. After 
that he went to Harvard University, where he received the degree of 
B.A., in 1892. 

Of powerful build and inheriting a splendid constitution, he 
attained prominence as an athlete in his college days, and such was 
his success in supporting the Crimson's standard on the football field 
that his services are still in demand there each year, to help coach other 
men into "good shape." For a year after his graduation from the 
college he studied at the Harvard Law School, but did not com- 
plete the course. Instead, in June, 1893, he went directly from 
the law school into business life as a clerk in his father's company, 
the Hartford Lumber Company, which was enjoying a prosperous 



356 EVERETT JOHN LAKE 

career and which, in its rapid development, seemed to offer a good 
opportunity for a young man of force and energy. 

The following year he was advanced to the responsible position 
of secretary of the company and in 1896 the duties of treasurer wero 
added, to be followed in 1901 with his promotion to the presidency, 
in addition to the treasurership. In 1903 he was chosen also president 
and treasurer of the Tunnel Coal Company, and all of these posi- 
tions in both of these eminently successful corporations he holds to- 
day. 

Always with a deep interest in public affairs, his first public office 
was that of member of the Hartford Board of School Visitors, which 
he held from 1900 to 1903. The latter year he was sent from Hart- 
ford to the House of Representatives and at the following session 
of the Legislature he was in attendance as senator (and one of the 
youngest of that body) from the first district. In both sessions 
he had important duties to perform, during the first session as 
chairman of the committee on appropriations, and during the latter 
session as chairman of the committee on incorporations. Senator 
Lake is first, last, and always a Republican. He is a lieutenant on 
the staff of the major commanding the First Company, Governor's 
Foot Guard, and is a member of the Hartford Club, and of the Hart- 
ford Golf Club, though his time for recreation is limited. 

He married Miss Eva Louise Sykes, daughter of the late George 
Sykes of Rockville, and they have two children, Harold S. and 
Marjorie S. Their residence at No. 553 Farmington Avenue is onf 
of the most attractive on that delightful thoroughfare. 

Mr. Lake was nominated for lieutenant-governor at the Republican 
State Convention in New Haven, September 20th, 1906. He wa? 
elected by a plurality of 19,781. 



CHARLES FREDERIC CHAPIN 

CHAPIN, CHARLES FREDEEIC, editor of the Waterbury 
American, was born in South Hadley, Hampdhire County, 
Massachusetts, on the third of August, 1852. He is descended 
from Samuel Chapin, who settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, 
about 1636, and he is the son of Enoch Cooley Chapin and Harriet 
Jenks Abbe Chapin. His early education was obtained in the public 
Bchools of South Hadley and the academy at Lowville, New York, 
where he lived for a few years. He prepared for college at Wilbraham 
Academy, and then entered Yale University with the class of 1871. 
While in college he received the highest literary honor that can be 
bestowed upon a Yale man, for he was made chairman of the board 
of editors of the Yale Literary Magazine. 

In 1877, soon after his graduation, he went to Waterbury to 
work in the office of the Waterbury American. The following year, 
1878, he was made editor of the paper, which is one of the leading 
newspapers in Connecticut and of which he has been editor continu- 
ously ever since. The paper has a wide reputation for its independ- 
ence and breadth of view. Mr. Chapin has been greatly responsible 
in shaping the character and securing the position of his paper. He 
is a keen observer and writer, and a diligent, conscientious worker. 
Modesty and honesty are equally characteristic of the man and of his 
writings. 

Mr. Chapin vows allegiance to no political party and is an inde- 
pendent voter. He attends the Congregational Church and is a mem- 
ber of the Patriotic Society of Colonial Wars. He is a lover of out- 
door sports, though lameness prevents his indulging in them to any 
great extent. He married on October 13th, 1877, Katharine A. 
Mattison, who died July 10th, 1905. Three children, a son and twin 
daughters, Carl M. Chapin, Barbara, and Marjorie Chapin, have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Chapin, all of whom are now living. Mr. 
Chapin's home is at 35 Fairview Street, Waterbury. 



HOWARD J. CURTIS 

CURTIS, HOWAED J., lawyer and Judge of the CivU Court of 
Common Pleas for Fairfield County, Connecticut, was born 
in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, June 29th, 1857, 
the son of Freeman L. Curtis, a farmer, and Georgiana Howard 
Curtis. 

He traces his ancestry to Widow Elizabeth Curtis, who, with her 
three sons, made one of the seventeen families that settled Stratford 
in 1639. His boyhood was spent in Stratford under the advantages 
and disadvantages enjoyed by all hoj& who spend their impressionable 
years amid the activities of farm life in a thickly settled community, 
where companionship is abundant, and where outdoor work and out- 
door play are fairly combined. These circumstances tended to pro- 
duce health of body and an optimistic spirit. In 1874 he entered 
the employ of the Housatonic Railroad Company at Pittsfield, Mas- 
sachusetts, as shipping clerk in the freight office and remained there 
one year, when he decided to take a college course. He returned to 
Stratford in the fall of 1875 and entered the preparatory school of 
Frederick Sedgwick. Here he enjoyed for two years the instruction of 
Mr. Sedgwick, a teacher of unique power and a personality of marked 
originality and force. In 1877 Mr. Curtis entered Yale University and 
took his academic degree in 1881. He spent the next year at Chatham, 
Virginia, teaching and incidentally studying law. In the fall of 
1883 he entered the senior class of the Yale Law School and 
received his degree of LL.B. in June, 1883. His choice of the pro- 
fession of law was determined by his own preference and because 
*1aw looms large in the horizon of a country boy." 

After a short experience in reading law in the office of Amos L. 
Treat of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mr. Curtis settled down to the 
practice of law in Bridgeport, in 1883, with George W. Wheeler, now 
Judge of the Superior Court, as Wheeler & Curtis. This partnership 
lasted for ten years until, in 1893, Mr. Curtis became Judge of the 
Civil Court of Common Pleas for Fairfield County, which position 



HOWARD J. CURTIS 359 

he still fills. In addition to his practice and his duties on the bench 
Judge Curtis has been a member of the Stratford Board of Education 
since 1884 and has been active in many town affairs. He is a member 
of the society's committee of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Strat- 
ford, which is Congregational in denomination. In politics he is a 
"Gold Wing Democrat." He is a member of the Seaside Club, the 
Contemporary Club, The University Club of Bridgeport, and The 
University Club of New York City. On June 5th, 1888, Judge Curtis 
married Ellen V. Talbot, by whom he has had three children, all of 
whom are now living. 



JAMES DUDLEY DEWELL 

DEWELL, JAMES DUDLEY, merchant and ex-lieutenant- 
governor, a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, was born in 
Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, September 3rd, 1837. 
He is descended from William Deville, who came from England to 
Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1640 and removed to Newport in 1653. 
On his mother's side he traces his descent from Michael Humphrey, 
who came from England to Windsor, Connecticut, in 1645. His 
maternal ancestors were related to the ancestors of Gen. U. S. Grant. 
Mr. Dewell's father was John Dewell, a manufacturer, esteemed for 
the sterling integrity of his character and who served his fellow men as 
postmaster, judge of probate, and State senator. Mr. Dewell's mother 
was Mary Humphrey. 

A healthy, ambitious boy living in the country, James Dewell 
worked hard from his earliest boyhood at farming, in a factory, a 
country store, and as a peddler on the road. A common school educa- 
tion was the only one he was able to obtain and he began work at a very 
early age. After clerking for some time in a country store he left 
home in 1858 to become a salesman for the grocery firm of Bushnell 
& Company in New Haven. In 1860 he was admitted to the firm 
which became Bushnell & Dewell, and later, in 1879, Dewell & Com- 
pany. The wholesale grocery business was his own choice and he has 
continued in it since 1858 with great success. 

Outside of his own business interests most of Mr. Dewell's time 
has been spent in public services of various kinds. From 1865 to 
1867 he was lieutenant of the New Haven Grays. In 1890 he was 
one of the prime movers in organizing the State Board of Trade, he 
was its first president and held that office twelve years. He was presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce for many years and he did 
important work as chief of the movement for building first-class 
state roads. He has held many other offices, among which are a 
twenty years' directorship in the Young Men's Institute of New 
Haven, directorship in the Evergreen Cemetery Association, the vice- 



JAMES DUDLEY DEWELL 361 

presidency of the Security Insurance Company, and of the National Sav- 
ings Bank, and he is one of the oldest directors of the City Bank and a 
director in the New Haven Trust Company. He owned and managed 
the "Sutton Fleet," which carried on trade between New England and 
the South. In 1897 he was made lieutenant-governor of Connecticut 
by the Republican party with which he has always been identified. 

Ex-lieutenant-governor Dewell is a member of the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society, the Sons of the American Eevolution, the 
Founders and Patriots Society, of Hiram Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M., 
and of the Union League Club of New Haven. His religious affilia- 
tions are with the Congregational Church. July 2nd, 18G0, he 
married Mary Elizabeth Keyes. Six children have been born of this 
union, five of whom are still living. 



MARCUS HENSEY HOLCOMB 

HOLCOMB, MARCUS HENSEY, attorney at law, judge of 
probate, Speaker of the House, and president of the South- 
4ngton Savings Bank, was born in New Hartford, Litchfield 
County, Connecticut, on November 28th, 1844, the son of Carlos 
Holcomb and Adah Bushnell Holcomb. His father was a farmer 
who held many public offices including those of selectman, assessor, 
and member of the board of relief. He was the executor and adminis- 
trator of many estates, being particularly fitted for this work by his 
great executive ability and his highly judicial temperament. He 
was a man of strong individuality, devoted to public matters, and 
of high place in the esteem of his fellow men. 

Marcus Hensey Holcomb spent his early days in a country village 
and worked out his education on a Litchfield County farm. He 
attended public and private schools and Wesleyan Academy and would 
have gone through college, but for a sunstroke which impaired his 
health at the time he would have entered college. He studied law 
with Judge Jared B. Foster of New Hartford and was admitted to 
the Bar at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1871. In the meantime he had 
been supporting himself by teaching school for a number of years. In 
1872 he went to Southington and commenced to practice law and 
he has remained there ever since. He is recognized as one of the 
leading lawyers of his county and he has been as prominent in public 
as in legal affairs. For thirty years he has been judge of probate 
for the district of Southington and he is also judge of the town 
court of Southington. Since 1893 he has been treasurer of Hartford 
County and in 1893 he was senator from the second district. In 
1902 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention and in 1905 
he was Speaker of the House. He is at present a member of the 
commissioners of State police and chairman of the Lewis High 
School committee. He is president of the Southington Savings Bank, 
a director in the Southington National Bank, in the Peck, Stow & 
Wilcox Company, the Southington Cutlery Company, the -^tna Nut 




i_c£:G:I^/f„:zr..^ 3£l.-^ A^Y- 




MARCUS HENSEY HOLCOMB 365 

Company, and the Atwater Manufacturing Company, and the receiver 
of the Cooperative Savings Society of Connecticut. 

Judge Holcomb left the Democratic party, in 1888, on the tariff 
issue and has since cast his vote with the Republican party. In 
religious views he is a Baptist and he has been superintendent of the 
Sunday school of the First Baptist Church of Southington for 
several years and chairman of the board of trustees of that church. 
He has many fraternal ties, being a thirty-second degree Mason, a 
member of the Order of the Mystic Shrine, of the Knights of 
Pythias, of the Order of Elks, the Order of Red Men, the 0. U. A. M., 
and the Foresters. In 1871-2 he was worshipful master of Northern 
Star Lodge, No. 58, F. and A. j\I. He finds hunting and fishing 
in the Maine woods the most beneficial and pleasurable relaxation 
from professional and business cares. 

In 1872, the year after liis admission to the Bar, Judge Holcomb 
married Sarah Carpenter Bennett, who died in 1901. One child 
was born of this union, who died some years ago. Judge Holcomb 
states very concisely and forcibly the practical advice he gives to 
others when he says that the three essentials of success are "honesty, 
industry, and sobriety." 

Mr. Holcomb was nominated for attorney-general at the Republican 
State Convention in New Haven, September 20th, 1906, and wa^ 
elected by 21,000 plurality. 



CHARLES NOEL FLAGG 

FLAGG, CHAELES NOEL, artist and art teacher, founder and 
director of the Connecticut League of Art Students, a member 
of the Connecticut State Capitol Commission of Sculpture, first 
president of the Municipal Art Society of Hartford organized 1904, ei- 
president and, at present, chairman of the Committee on Civic Cen- 
ters and Public Buildings, and one of the foremost New England por- 
trait painters, was born in Brooklyn, New York, December 25th, 1848, 
and is now a resident of Hartford, Connecticut. He is the son of Jared 
Bradley Flagg, an artist of great skill, a clergyman and an author 
and a man of great gentleness of disposition, who loved everything 
beautiful in art and nature. His mother was Louisa Hart Flagg, a 
woman whose influence upon his life was strong and good in every 
way. The family traces its ancestry in this country to John Flagg 
who came from England and settled in Ehode Island early in the 
seventeenth century. Mr. Charles Noel Flagg's great-grandfather, 
Henry Collins Flagg, was surgeon general in Washington's army. 
From another branch of the family he is descended from Gen. 
Francis Marion and he is also a grandnephew of Washington Allston. 
Henry Collins Flagg, son of Dr. H, C. Flagg, was mayor of New 
Haven several terms and was a member of the Society of Cincinnati. 
Painting and books were the chief interests in the early life of 
Charles Noel Flagg, just as they have been in his mature life. The 
Bible, Shakespeare's plays, and Don Quixote were his favorite books 
and his greatest help in after life. He was a delicate youth and did 
not have much work to do outside of his school work. He did, how- 
ever, partly learn the trade of carpenter and the experience thus 
gained has proved a constant source of pleasure and intellectual bene- 
fit. His youth was spent partly in New York, where he attended 
the public schools, and partly in New Haven, where he took the 
course at the Hopkins Grammar School. In 1864, when he was but 
sixteen years old, he began the active work of portrait painting in 
New Haven. In 1872 he went abroad and spent ten years in Paris 
studying drawing and painting under Louis Jacquesson de la 



CHARLES NOEL FLAGQ 367 

Chevreuse and he also attended lectures at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts 
in Paris. 

Upon his return to America Mr. Flagg settled in Hartford and 
worked both as an artist and as an art teacher. In 1888 he founded 
the Connecticut League of Art Students, a free night school for men 
wishing to become professional artists, and he is still director of and 
teacher in the League. This organization has been very influential 
in developing and advancing art study in Connecticut and in raising 
the standards of art in the state as well as an immense practical 
help to deserving students. In 1889 Mr. Flagg was appointed by 
the governor to complete the unexpired term of the late A. E. Burr as 
member of the Connecticut State Capitol Commission of Sculpture 
and in 1901 he was reappointed for six years. Mr. Flagg has painted 
several hundred portraits, many of which are of distinguished men 
and women of the day. He has also been an occasional contributor to 
the Atlantic Monthly and to many art magazines and papers. He is 
president of the Municipal Art Society of Hartford, chairman of the 
Committee on Civic Centers and Public Buildings, secretary of the 
Society of Connecticut Artists, chairman of the Art Committee of the 
Hartford Club, of the admission committee of the Hartford Yacht 
Club, and was elected vice-commodore at the last annual meeting of the 
Hartford Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Cerele Frangais 
of Hartford, of the Hartford Siingerbund, and the American Civic 
Club. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 
politics he is and always has been a Eepublican. Yachting is his most 
enjoyable sport and for indoor exercise he follows the Saint Cyr 
system of physical culture which has cured him of asthma, from 
which he was a sufferer for twenty years. In 1874 Mr. Flagg married 
Ellen Fanny Earle of New York City. Five children have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Flagg and four are now living. Their home is in 
Hartford. Mr. Flagg considers the strongest influence upon his 
success in life to have been exerted at home by his father and mother 
and by his friend. Dr. Horace Bushnell. Next to home influence he 
values his private study. For a watchword for others he says: "Be 
prompt to do the thing to be done yourself. Let the other person do 
the talking. Laziness is the curse of artists and art students. Above 
all — for success — 'To thine own self be true — thou canst not then be 
false to any man.' " 



HENRY A. PERKINS 

PROFESSOE PERKIKS comes from old Connecticut stock, his 
father, Edward Perkins, being the son of Henry Perkins, for 
so many years the president of the old Hartford Bank in the 
early part of the nineteenth century and his mother, Mary Dwight, 
being a representative of a family distinguished in many parts of the 
country for culture and scholarship. He was born in 1873 in the 
city of Hartford and was educated in the orthodox Congregational 
manner at the Hartford High School and Yale University, where he 
was graduated in 1896. His first graduate course he took at Columbia 
University, receiving the degrees of M.A. and Electrical Engineer 
in 1899. After two years' graduate work at Yale and a year's prac- 
tical experience with the Hartford Electric Light Company, he was 
made professor of physics at Trinity College in 1902. Although so 
young a man he is recognized as a very careful experimenter, a 
thoroughly competent theoretical electrician, and an expert in pho- 
tometry. He has contributed several articles to the American Journal 
of Science and is a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers 
and of the American Physical Society. He has traveled extensively 
and visited the interior of Iceland. His lectures on what he saw 
there, the people and the physiographical character of the country, 
are full of novelty and interest. He is also much interested in 
exploration and mountain climbing and is a member of the Alpine 
Club and the Arctic Club. 

In 1903 he married Miss Olga Flinch. One son has been born to 
them. 




J 5 




V^HA^C 



r 



ELI WHITNEY 

WHITNEY, ELI, a prominent citizen with many important 
business interests, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, 
January 22nd, 1847. He is the son of Eli Whitney and 
Sarah Perkins (Dalliba) Whitney. He comes from a long line of dis- 
tinguished ancestors, and men who have played prominent parts in the 
events of their time. His earliest ancestor in this country was John 
Whitney, who came from England in 1635 and settled in Watertown, 
Massachusetts. Among those ancestors who have distinguished them- 
selves first comes the great Eli Whitney, who was the inventor of the 
cotton gin. There are also Jonathan Edwards, theologian, who was 
president of Princeton College; Thomas Hooker, the founder of the 
city of Hartford and one of the most prominent figures in the making 
of the early history of the State of Connecticut ; Rev. James Pierpont, 
who was one of the little band of men who were the founders of Yale 
University; Benjamin Huntington, and Pierpont Edwards, who was 
one of the original members of the famous Connecticut Governors 
Foot Guards (still in existence), who fought in the Eevolution. His 
father was a graduate of Princeton, class of 18-il, and his life's work 
was that of a manufacturer. 

Mr. Whitney spent the early days of his youth on the estate of 
his father in New Haven, and prepared for college at the famous 
boys' military school of Gen. Wm. H. Russell in New Haven, Con- 
necticut, and also at Josiah Clark's School at Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts, and entered Yale University in 1865, graduating with the 
degree of B.A. in the class of 1869. Later the degree of M.A. was 
conferred upon him. Upon leaving Yale he took a post-graduate 
course at the Boston Institute of Technology and in the Sheffield 
Scientific School of Yale. 

Acting upon the wish of his father he entered the employ of the 
Whitney Arms Company in 1871, and gradually rose to the position 
of vice-president. The business was sold in 1888. Two years after 
going into business he was married to Sarah Sheffield Farnam of 



372 ELI WHITNEY 

New Haven, on October 22nd, 1873. Seven daughters are the 
result of this union and all but one are now living. 

For a number of years Mr. Whitney has been prominent in public 
life, and is intimately associated with the business interests of his 
city. He has been president of the New Haven Water Company since 
1894, president of the West Haven Water Company since 1900, 
director of the New Haven Gas Light Company, the City Bank of 
New Haven, and trustee in the Connecticut Savings Bank and the 
New Haven Trust Company. He has also held a number of politicaJ 
positions, among them alderman, member of the Park Commission, 
Board of Public Works, and for twelve years a member of the Board 
of Education in New Haven and for nearly eight years its president, 
and president of the General Hospital of Connecticut. November, 
1904, he was elected State senator, and during the session was promi- 
nent as the introducer of a number of important bills. He is a fellow 
on the Corporation of Yale University, to which position he was 
elected by the alumni in 1902, vice-president of the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society, member of the Connecticut Society of the 
Sons of the American Eevolution and a member of several clubs 
in the city of New Haven. He is also a member of the Century, 
University, Yale, and Engineers clubs in New York City and of the 
societies of the Colonial Wars and of the War of 1812. 

In politics Mr. Whitney is a consistent Republican, though inclined 
to be independent in local affairs when circumstances seem to demand 
it. He is one of the most prominent men socially in New Haven, 
and has won for himself the respect of all with whom he has come in 
contact in the business world. He owns one of the most beautiful 
residences in the city of New Haven, situated on the avenue named 
after his family. Mr. Whitney takes a keen enjoyment in fishing and 
hunting, having a love for the woods, but takes no active part in 
athletics. He is a member of the Congregational Church and his 
name is associated with a great many of the beneficial gifts that have 
been made both in religious and other fields in New Haven. As a 
man he is very unostentatious, being noted for his quiet and unassum- 
ing manners. 



JOHN DAY JACKSON 

JACKSON, JOHN DAY, publisher of the New Haven Register, 
president of the Worcester Gazette Company and a well known 
newspaper man of Connecticut, was born in Hartford, Con- 
necticut, September 23rd, 1868, the son of General Joseph Cooke 
Jackson and Katharine Perkins Day Jackson. His father was a 
lawyer and Assistant United States District Attorney of New York, 
but best known for his military service in the Civil War, when he was 
brigadier general of volunteers and Commissioner of the Naval Credits 
for the State of New Jersey, in which the Jackson family have long 
been prominent. The study of Mr. Jackson's ancestry opens up an 
unusually large and interesting list of names, names of public men 
who have been real history makers in America and have been promi- 
nent and important in the civil, military, and political history of 
the United States since earliest times. Three early ancestors of 
especial distinction are the "Pilgrim Fathers," Gov. William Brad- 
ford, John Howl and, and John Tilley, all of whom came to Plymouth 
in the "Mayflower" in 1620 and from all of whom Mr. Jackson is a 
direct lineal descendant. He is also a direct descendant of Gov. John 
Haynes, the first governor of Connecticut; Gov. Thomas Dudley, of 
Massachusetts; Gov, Thomas Welles, of Connecticut; Gov. John 
Webster, of Connecticut; Gov. George Wyllys; Gov. Roger Wolcott; 
Gov. William Pitkin; Gov. Oliver Wolcott, all governors of Con- 
necticut, and the last named, Mr. Jackson's great-great-great-grand- 
father, was also major general in the Continental Army and a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence. Another great-great-great- 
grandfather. General Huntington, of Norwich, was a major general 
in the British Army and aided in the capture of Louisburg in the 
French and Indian War. Nor is this distinguished catalogue com- 
plete by half, for Mr. Jackson also traces his ancestry to Gov. William 
Pynehon, governing magistrate of Connecticut and one of the his- 
toric founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ; to Philip Schuyler, 
vice-governor at Fort Orange in 1655; Brandt Van Slichtenhorst, 



374 JOHN DAY JACKSON 

chief magistrate of Eensselaerwych, 1645-1655; Henry Wolcott, 
magistrate of Connecticut, 1643; Nathaniel Turner, magistrate of 
New Haven Colony; Captain Miles Morgan, who fought against the 
Indians at the sacking of Springfield in 1675; Lieutenant Thomas 
Cooper, another Indian fighter; the Eev. John Whiting, chaplain of 
the Connecticut troops in King Philip's War, and several other 
divines of the Perkins and Pitkin families who were fellows of Yale 
and Harvard and preachers of the state election sermons. 

John Day Jackson spent his youth in the city of New York. He 
attended the public schools in New York City, the School of Lan- 
guages in New York, and then entered Yale University, where he took 
his A.B. degree in 1890, In college he was chairman of the Yale 
Daily News, a junior exhibition, Townsend, and commencement speak- 
er, and was graduated with special honors in two groups, history and 
economics and modern languages. He was also a member and secretary 
of the General Athletic Committee appointed to confer with Hanrard 
on the Dual League. His scholarly tastes were not yet satisfied and he 
went abroad to complete his education. He studied at the University 
of Berlin, at the Sorbonne in Paris, and the Ecole Politique in Paris. 
In 1901 he returned to America and spent a year in further study 
at Harvard University. He began his journalistic career as a reporter 
in New York and became later the Washington correspondent for 
the New York Evening Post, the Newark News, the Journal of Com- 
merce, and other papers; also managing editor of the Washington 
News. He is now publisher of the New Haven Register and president 
of the Worcester Gazette Company, besides being a director in a 
number of other companies. For seven years he has been an in- 
fluential member of the New Haven Board of Education and in 1898 
he held the office of police commissioner. He is an adherent to the 
Eepublican party in politics and in 1904 declined a nomination to 
the State senate. 

Mr. Jackson is a member of the Graduates Club, the Lawn Club, 
the Union League Club, and the Young Men's Republican Club, all 
of New Haven, and of the University Club of New York, the Yale 
Club, the Sons of the Eevolution, the Society of Colonial Wars, the 
college fraternities Psi Upsilon and Chi Delta Theta, the Yale 
Literary Magazine Society. He is an enthusiastic devotee of out- 
of-door life and finds the keenest delight in riding, mountaineering, 



JOHN DAY JACKSON 375 

canoeing, skating, and tennis. He has been an extensive traveler in 
Europe, Africa, and the East. 

In estimating the results of what he has accomplished Mr. Jack- 
son feels that hard work, perseverance, and courage are the real 
essentials. He says: "Be sure you are quite right and then go 
ahead without fear. Every one should take some interest in politics 
and in public philanthropy, especially of an organized kind. If every 
one did this the results of reform would last longer and general 
conditions be much improved. The great mistake of American life 
is to stop after something has been accomplished, expecting that 
something to live without eternal vigilance. That is the only road 
to growth." 



CHARLES ALLEN DINSMORE 

DINSMORE, EEV. CHARLES ALLEN, clergyman and author, 
at present pastor of the First Congregational Church of Water- 
bury, was born in New York City, August 4th, 1860. His 
father was Lafayette Henry Dinsmore, a physician and a great lover 
of poetry, nature, and books. His mother was Mary Sabin Ladd, 
of whom he says : "She kindled my ambition to succeed and moulded 
my religious life." The early ancestors of the family came from the 
north of Ireland and settled in New Hampshire. Robert Dinsmore, 
the poet, was in the same line of descent. 

Until he was seven years old Charles Dinsmore lived in the city 
and from that time until he was of age he spent most of his time 
in the country. He was a vigorous boy, full of life and ambition, 
and he says of his boyhood: "My chief interest was in fun until I 
was sixteen and after that in study." He had regular employment on 
a farm in summer, which formed habits of self-reliance and inde- 
pendence, qualities which made it possible for him to earn his own 
education. His most stimulating and enjoyable lines of reading were 
philosophy, belles-letters, political science, and history. He prepared 
for college at Monson Academy and was graduated from Dartmouth 
in 1884, and from Yale Divinity School in 1888, when he received 
his B.D. degree. He then spent two years at Yale studying theology 
and sociology, but as he elected his studies this led to no degree. He 
worked his way through all of these institutions. 

Led into the ministry by what he terms "a cold sense of duty/' 
Reverend Dinsmore began as pastor of the Congregational Church in 
Whitneyville, Connecticut, in 1877, and remained there until 1891. 
During his pastorate there he married Annie Laurie Beattie, by 
whom he has had one child. His second call was to Willimantic, 
Connecticut, where he preached five years, at the end of which he 
was called to be pastor of Phillips Congregational Church in Boston, 
where he remained until 1905. On March 1st, 1905, he entered upon 
his present pastorate, the First Congregational Church of Water- 



CHARLES ALLEN DINSMORE 377 

bury, and was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity in June of the 
same jear by Dartmouth College. 

Literature has been one of the chief interests of Doctor Dinsmore's 
life and he has made several valuable and scholarly contributions to 
modern literature. During his school days he fell under the spell of 
Dante's Divine Comedy, and the study of that great author has been 
the center of his literary work as well as the inspiration of his more 
general writings. In 1901 he published "The Teachings of Dante" 
and in 1903 "Aids to the Study of Dante." He expects soon to 
publish a new work of great interest, which will be called "The 
Atonement in Literature and Life." He is a member of the Dante 
Society of Cambridge, of the Twentieth Century Club, and of the Bos- 
ton Authors' Club. In politics he is a Eepublican, though he has no 
sympathy with high tariff. His outdoor recreation is found in golf 
and horseback riding. 

In estimating the influences that have been brought to bear upon 
his life, Doctor Dinsmore says: "Home laid down the lines of 
character, school kindled my ambition, and private study gave me 
the raw material." As to the success of his work he says : "I have 
failed to take the satisfaction rightly due, being under too great 
a pressure of work. Life is too strenuous." The advice which he 
gives to others contains the keynote of his own character and the 
reason for his success, for he advises others to "have a great task and 
become absorbed in it." 



CHARLES L. EDWARDS 

EDWARDS, PEOFESSOR CHARLES L., was born in Oquawka, 
Illinois, forty-two years ago. His father was a banker and a 
member of the legislature of Indiana and came of Welsh stock, 
and his mother traced her ancestry back to John Brown of Plymouth, 
1626; Lieutenant William Pratt of Cambridge, 1633; Lieutenant 
Richard Stockton of New Jersey; Thomas Lord; Governor Haynes, 
and Governor Wyllis of Hartford. As a boy. Professor Edwards 
went through the usual experiences of a youth in a small western city, 
but very early developed a marked interest in natural history. The 
works of Charles Darwin, then first exciting the world, had a decided 
influence on him, and after receiving his B.S. degree at Lombard Col- 
lege in 1884, and again at the Indiana University in 1886, he deter- 
mined to devote himself to the study of biology. He studied three 
years at Johns Hopkins University and then went to the University of 
Leipzig, where he received the degree of Ph.D. He worked for two 
years as graduate fellow in Clark University, Worcester, Massachu- 
setts, and became assistant professor of biology at the University of 
Texas in Austin. He was made full professor at the University of 
Cincinnati in 1894 and remained there six years. In 1900 he became 
J. Pierpont Morgan Professor of Natural History in Trinity College, 
Hartford, a position which he has filled with marked ability ever 
since. 

Having such an excellent educational equipment, and being full 
of enthusiasm for his profession and by nature an indefatigable worker, 
it is not strange that Professor Edwards, though still a young man, 
has done a great deal of scientific work and achieved a recognized 
position in the scientific world. He is the author of numerous papers 
in journals devoted to biology and zoology, among which are twenty 
articles on the embryology of the holothurians and reptiles, an ex- 
haustive statistical study of variation, and one on the marine zoology 
in the Bahama Islands. He has in hand for the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion a monograph of the holothurioidea, and for the United States 



CHARLES L. EDWARDS 379 

Bureau of Fisheries a report on the albatross collections. He is a 
fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 
and a member of the Society of American Zoologists, of the Associa- 
tion of American Naturalists, and of the three Mexican Scientific 
Societies. As a "side line'' he has devoted much time to the subject 
of folk-lore, being the author of "Bahama Songs and Stories" (Vol. 
3), "Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society," and was in 1889 the 
president of the American Folk-Lore Society. At present he has 
much at heart the establishment of a floating laboratory, a small sail- 
ing vessel, in connection with Trinity College to investigate in the 
summer vacations the marine biology of the West Indies. His energy 
and enthusiasm will no doubt lead to the installation of the enterprise 
in a year or two. One of Professor Edwards's most important inves- 
tigations had to do with the effect of temperature on the development 
of the chick during the process of incubation and the determination 
of the critical temperature or the zero below which development does 
not take place. 

On June 5th, 1889, Professor Edwards married Jessie Safford. 
Four children have been born to them, three of whom are now living, 
John Robert, Richard Safford, and Charles Stockton. 



HENRY FOWLER ENGLISH 

ENGLISH, HENEY FOWLER, widely known as a prominent 
banker and business man of New Haven, was born in that city, 
June 5th, 1851. He is the son of James Edward English, one 
of Connecticut's foremost governors, who held the office for three 
terms, after having been a representative. State senator, and member 
of Congress. He served also as a United States senator, by appoint- 
ment, and is remembered as a man of strict integrity and great busi- 
ness ability. The English family came originally from Yorkshire, 
England. The earliest known American representative was Clement 
English who was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1646, a eon of 
whom, Benjamin, migrated to New Haven about 1700. 

Mr. English was brought up in New Haven, where he has always 
lived. He was delicate in early years, a boy of quiet temperament 
and fond of books and outdoor sports. His taste for reading was 
inherited from his mother, who also taught him love of nature. Hie 
early education was obtained at General Eussell's Collegiate and Com- 
mercial Institute at New Haven, this being followed by two years' 
study under the tutorage of the late Horace Day. He then took a 
special course of studies at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale, and 
finally attended the Yale Law School, being graduated with the class 
of 1874, and admitted to the county bar the same year. 

After his graduation from the law school Mr. English started his 
business career in office practice and in the active management of 
real estate. He profited much by the good example and excellent ad- 
vice of his parents and has succeeded in life through earnest and per- 
sistent effort, through self-reliance, and through his constant deter- 
mination to do in all positions the best he was able. Personal con- 
tact with other successful men in life has been a special source of 
inspiration to him. He now holds many positions of trust in the 
banking and business world of New Haven. He is a director of 
the First National Bank, trustee and vice-president of the Connecti- 
cut Savings Bank, trustee in the New Haven Trust Company, director 
in the New Haven Clock Company and chairman of its executive 



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HENEY FOWLEE ENGLISH 383 

<x)mmittee, director in the Bristol Brass Company, in the Bristol 
Manufacturing Company, in the New Haven Dispensary and General 
Hospital Society, also the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and 
trustee in the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a member 
of the New Haven Commission of Public Parks, and has been its 
secretary and treasurer since 1887. In 1903 he was appointed a 
member of the State Police Commission. This long list of offices 
shows the diversified scope of his business and public interests. 

In 1888 Mr. English was married to Alice Nancy Kimball of 
Boston, Massachusetts, their family now comprising three children; 
two sons and a daughter. He attends St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 
New Haven. He takes considerable interest in all athletic sports, 
although devoting little time to practice. He is a member of the 
fraternity of Delta Psi at Yale, of the Graduates Club, of the New 
Haven Country Club, the New Haven Lawn Club, and also of the 
Ognossoc Angling Association, of Maine. In politics he is usually 
associated with the Democratic party, but is strongly inclined to be 
one of the great mass of independent voters whose ballots decide 
which party is to be victorious. He takes an unselfish interest in 
political affairs, but has never held political office. Although a 
relatively young man, the success of Mr. English in his wide and 
varied interests has made him a man of prominence in his community. 
His large experience lends value to his words of advice to young men 
who are about to begin the active work of life. He says: "What is 
termed success in life is due mainly to earnest and persistent effort 
by the individual. This effort must be governed by motives of integ- 
rity and liberality and by the recognition of the rights of others. 
Learn to think and act for yourself, but at the same time be ever 
ready to accept sound counsel." These principles guided Mr. English 
through life and his success demonstrates their soundness. Perhaps 
the most instructive part of his advice is: "Be self-reliant and yet 
willing to accept advice. When a man depends always upon others he 
must ever play a secondary role in life ; yet if his self-reliance degen- 
erates into conceit, and he refuses to accept the advice of others, he 
learns many of life's most valuable lessons only after bitter experience 
and often after it is too late to use to advantage the knowledge he 
might have acquired easily by accepting the counsel of those who 
are in a position to know." 



GEORGE CURTIS WALDO 

WALDO, GEOEGE CUETIS, editor-in-chief and president 
of the Standard Association, Bridgeport, Connecticut, was 
born in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, March 20th, 
1837. His father was the Kev. Josiah Crosby Waldo, a good speaker 
and debater and a leading minister of the Universalist denomination, 
founded by his father-in-law, the Kev. Hosea Ballou. Mr. Waldo's 
mother was Elmina Euth Ballou. Through his father Mr. Waldo is 
descended from Deacon Cornelius Waldo who came from England to 
Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1634. John Waldo, the 
deacon's son, settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts Baj-, in 1676. 

George Curtis Waldo as a child showed special taste and interest 
in general literature and in art. His mother being a writer and poet 
encouraged the literary taste in the boy and helped him in his intel- 
lectual work. His boyhood's recreation was found in the woods, 
where with rod and gun he took long walks in pursuit of fish and 
game and forgot for a time his books. He read everything he could 
find, and when fourteen years of age had read all of Scott's and 
Cooper's works, and could repeat "The Lady of the Lake," "Mar- 
mion,'"' and other poems by Scott and many of Byron's poems. He 
had also mastered many of the poems of Pope, Coleridge, Wordsworth, 
Burns, etc. He was prepared for college at The Troy (New York) 
Academy, after having passed through the Public schools of West 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was graduated at Tufts College, Mas- 
sachusetts, A.B., 1860, receiving his A.M. degree later. He served 
as corporal in Company E, Second Eegiment, Connecticut Volunteers, 
commanded by Col. A. H. Terr}^, in the first call for three months' 
men in 1861. He then studied both law and medicine in New 
London, Connecticut, and in 1867 began newspaper work on the 
Bridgeport Daily Standard as local reporter. He continued with the 
paper during his active business life as associate editor, editor-in- 
chief, and as president of the Standard Association. He served his 
adopted city as a member of the board of education for five years 



GEORGE CURTIS WALDO 385 

and as a member of the board of directors of the Bridgeport Public 
Library for sixteen years. He served his adopted state as a member 
of the board of Shell Fish Commissioners from 1889 and as chairman 
of the board for ten years, and as a member of the board of directors 
of the State Insane Hospital at Norwich, by appointment of Governor 
Chamberlain. 

He was married in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 11th, 1874, 
to Annie, daughter of Frederick and Matilda Brooks Frye, and the 
four children born of this marriage are now living. They are 
Selden Connor, Eosalie Hillman (Mrs. Eoland Hawley Mallory of 
New York City), Maturin Ballou, and George Curtis, Jr. He is a 
member of Christ Church, Bridgeport, and served as a member of the 
vestry from 1876 and as Junior warden for five years. He was 
president of the Eclectic, Press, and Seaside clubs of Bridgeport, 
secretary of the Bridgeport Scientific Society, vice-president of the 
Fairfield County Historical Society, a director of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, and declined the appointment as commissary 
genera] on the stafi' of Governor P. C. Lounsbury. He is a comrade of 
the Grand Army of the Republic, Post Elias Howe Jr. No. 3, and of 
the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut. He received the honorary 
degree of Litterarum Doctor from Tufts College in 1898. 



HOMER STILLE CUMMINGS 

CUMMINGS, HOMER STILLE, lawyer, business man, presi- 
dent of the Stamford Board of Trade, mayor of Stamford, 
member of the Democratic National Committee, was born in 
Chicago, Illinois, April 30th, 1870. His father, Uriah Cummings, 
is an inventor, manufacturer of cement, and author of technical works. 
His first ancestors in America on the paternal side came from the 
disputed territory between England and Scotland and settled in Ver- 
mont. Uriah Cummings married Audie Stille, daughter of Jacob 
Schuyler and Audelia Stille of Buffalo, New York, whose ancestors 
were of Knickerbocker New York and Holland Dutch stock, with a 
mixture of Huguenot blood. Her most illustrious ancestor waa Gen. 
Philip Schuyler of Revolutionary fame. 

Homer Stille Cummings was a healthy child, brought up in the 
city of Buffalo, New York, to which city his father had removed, and 
his mother guided his intellectual, moral, and spiritual life. He was 
prepared for college at the Heathcote School, Buffalo, and was gradu- 
ated at Yale University, Ph.B. 1891, LL.B. 1893. He began the 
practice of law in Stamford, Connecticut, in September, 1893, his 
choice of a profession being his uninfluenced personal preference. He 
is active in public affairs in Stamford and in seeking Improvements 
in its municipal arrangements. He is a leading Democratic party 
man, and, in 1896, received the nomination for secretary of state on 
the Democratic state ticket, receiving at the polls the highest number 
of votes cast for a candidate of his party that year. In April, 1900, 
he was elected mayor of Stamford, was reelected in 1901 by the larg- 
est majority ever given to a candidate for that office, and on November 
8th, 1904, he was again elected mayor for a term of two years, serv- 
ing from 1904 to 1906. In 1900 he was a delegate at large from 
Connecticut to the Democratic National Convention and represented 
his state as a member cf the committee on resolutions at the conven- 
tion and as a member of the Democratic National Committee and he 
held that position on the committee, by reappointment in 1904, 



HOMER STILLE CUMMINGS 387 

and has recently been elected for the term of 1904 to 1908. 
In 1902 he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for 
representative at large from Connecticut to the 58th Congress and 
polled a larger vote than that cast for any other Democratic candidate 
that year. His business associations are director and secretary of the 
Cummings Cement Company and also of the Chiekamauga Cement 
Company, president of the Varuna Spring Water Company, and 
president of the Stamford Board of Trade. He was also president 
of the Mayors' Association of Connecticut, one term, 1903-1904. He 
has affiliated himself with the order of Free and Accepted Masons, the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Eoyal Arcanum, 
Elnights of Pythias, and Knights of the Maccabees. 

Mr. Cummings was married, June 27th, 1897, to Helen Woodruff 
Smith, daughter of James D. and Elizabeth Henderson Smith of 
Stamford, and their son, Dickinson Schuyler Cummings, was born 
June 17th, 1898. 



GEOKGE HENRY HOYT 

HOYT, GEOKGE HENRY, the late president of the Stamford 
Savings Bank, vice-president of the Stamford National Bank, 
treasurer of the Stamford Water Company and of the Stam- 
ford Electric Light and Gas Company, was born in Stamford, Fair- 
field County, Connecticut, December 11th, 1838, and died there 
November 20th, 1904. He was a direct descendant of Benjamin Hoyt, 
who was born in Windsor, England, in 1644 and emigrated to Stam- 
ford about 1711, and of Thaddeus Hoyt, born 1742, who was dis- 
tinguished for bravery in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Hoyt's father, 
James H. Hoyt, was the general superintendent of the New York, 
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and a man of unusual business 
capacity and public spirit. He was State senator and in many ways 
a prominent factor in the political and industrial life of the town in 
which the family have always been conspicuous for useful citizenship. 
Mr. Hoyt's mother was Sarah J. Gorham, a woman worthy in all 
respects to bring up her son under the best moral and spiritual influ- 
ences. 

Stamford was Mr. Hoyt's home in his 3'outh as it was throughout 
his whole life and he received his education in the Stamford public 
schools. He was a sturdy, active boy, who inherited his father's 
ambition and energy as well as his business ability and after his 
father's death he occupied himself with his father's many business inter- 
ests and built well upon the firm foundations already laid. He began 
work in the employ of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- 
road in New York City, and later became their Stamford agent. In 
1878 he became president of the Stamford Savings Bank and he held 
this position until his death. He was vice-president of the Stamford 
National Bank and both of these institutions were organized through 
his father's efforts. He was for many years treasurer of the Stam- 
fordWater Company,of the Stamford Gas and Electric Light Company, 
of St. John's Church, and of Stamford Hospital, and he was a director 
in the New York Transfer Company, and in several other institutions. 



GEORGE HENRY HOYT 391 

In spite of all these important business ties Mr. Hoyt found time 
to act as guardian, trustee, and adviser for many individuals and cor- 
porations, and always gave generously of his time, thought, and 
judgment to the many who consulted him. He was also called upon 
to fill many public offices, some of which he declined. He served as 
burgess for several years and as State representative for two terms. 
He was also a member of the Board of Appropriation and Apportion- 
ment and of the public building committee. He led the movement 
which brought about the memorable celebration of the two hundred 
and fiftieth anniversary of the town of Stamford in 1892, and it 
was greatly due to his untiring efforts that the occasion was such a 
marked success. In politics he was a Democrat and like many other 
Democrats swerved from the party lines on the gold issue in 1896. He 
was often a delegate to party conventions. Though not a public 
speaker he was an interesting talker, and, after a tour in Europe a 
few years before his death, he gave interesting lectures which his 
natural literary taste rendered doubly pleasing. 

A devoted churchman and junior warden of St. John's Protestant 
Episcopal Church, Mr. Hoyt gave to that church the best and most 
complete service a layman can render. He was a member and con- 
stant attendant at St. John's from his early boyhood and he served 
the parish as vestryman and financial manager as well as a frequent 
delegate to diocesan conventions. His loss is felt as keenly in religious 
as in business and social circles. Of him it may truly be said that he 
served God "with constancy on earth," " always abounding in the work 
of the Lord." 

Mr, Hoyt's sudden death on his way to morning service on Sun- 
day, November 20th, 1904, was a keen shock to all who knew him and 
an irreparable loss to his community. He is survived by his wife, 
Josephine Bailey Hoyt, whom he married in 1865, and by two 
daughters. 



GREENE KENDRICK 

KENDRICK, GREENE, a prominent lawyer, a distinguished 
scholar, and public man, was born in Waterbury, New Haven 
County, Connecticut, May 31st, 1851. He is descended from 
a very old English family, some of whose members were among the 
earliest Colonial settlers. One of the early English ancestors of the 
family is chronicled in the Domesday Book. The line of descent is 
directly traceable to William Kendrick who lived in the reign of 
Henry VIII. The first of the family to come to America was George 
Kendrick, one of the "Men of Kent" who settled at Plymouth in 1633. 
Mr. Kendrick's grandfather, Hon. Greene Kendrick, was lieutenant- 
governor of Connecticut in 1851 and took an important part in all 
the public affairs of his day. John Kendrick, Mr. Kendrick's father, 
was a lawyer and many times a public official. He was associate 
editor of the New Haven Register, mayor of Waterbury, a member of 
the legislature, first city recorder of Waterbury, a member of the 
National Peace Convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and president of 
the Rogers & Brothers' Manufacturing Company. He was a man 
who commanded the utmost respect for his clean and able public ser- 
vice. He was a traveler of wide experience and a writer of great vni 
and originality. Mr. Kendrick's mother was Marion Mar Kendrick, 
through whom he is descended from Governor Bradford and a "May- 
flower" ancestry. 

Greene Kendrick received a broad and liberal education. He pre- 
pared for college at Professor Bassett's School in Waterbury, the 
Waterbury High School, and later at Round Hill Seminary, North- 
ampton, Massachusetts. He made a special study of Greek and Latin, 
thus laying the foundation for his well-known mastery of the classics. 
He entered Yale with the class of 1873, but interrupted his course by 
spending part of his junior year in European travel. He was 
graduated with his class, as a Phi Beta Kappa man, taking a high 
oration, and the Clark and Berkeley scholarships. He then took a 
graduate course in history, comparative philology, and international 



GREENE KENDRICK 393 

law. In 1875 he was graduated from the Yale Law School and in 
addition to his LL.B. degree took the Eoman and Common Law, the 
American Constitutional Law, and the Junior Jewell prizes. He 
was admitted to the Connecticut bar soon after his graduation and 
began his practice in Waterbury, making a specialty of corporation 
law. He won distinction in his profession as rapidly as he did in 
college work. During the first five years of his practice he was given 
the following public offices : membership in the Waterbury Board of 
Education, the auditorship of the State institutions, city clerkship of 
Waterbury, and membership in the General Assembly. In 1883 he was 
elected mayor of Waterbury, serving until 1885. In 1885 he was 
admitted to the New York bar and the bar of the Federal Courts, and 
from 1887 to 1893 he maintained an office in New York where he 
specialized as a railway and patent lawyer. In 1895 he was made 
township attorney of Waterbury, which office he still holds. In his 
political views Mr. Kendrick is a conservative Democrat and he has 
often been a delegate to both national and local Democratic conven- 
tions. 

Like his father in tastes, as well as in his professional and public 
career, Mr. Kendrick is an enthusiastic traveler and has visited aU 
parts of the globe. He has spent a great deal of time in Greece and 
Rome pursuing the study of classical antiquities. He is a member of 
the New Haven County Historical Society, the Connecticut Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, the American Oriental Society, and the Amer- 
ican Philological Society. He is a member of several fraternal orders, 
including the Knights Templar and Shriners and he is a thirty- 
second degree Mason. 

In November, 1896, Mr, Kendrick married Flora Mabel Lockwood 
of New Haven. They have one daughter, Flora M. In 1903 the 
family moved to West Haven, Connecticut, of which borough Mr. 
Kendrick is at present one of the burgesses. 



WILLIAM MONROE LATHROP 

LATHROP, WILLIAM MONROE,newspaper man and at present 
editor of the Waterhury Republican, was born in Washington, 
D.C., December 36th, 1863, the son of Charles E. Lathrop and 
Charlotte Dilley Lathrop. His father was a lawyer and editor, and, 
during Lincoln's administration, public printer and naval store 
keeper at Washington. Mr. Lathrop's first ancestor in America was the 
Eev. John Lathrop, who came from England in the sixteenth century 
and settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts. 

Most of Mr. Lathrop's boyhood days were spent in a small city. 
His schooling was that of a graduate of high school in Carbondale, 
Pennsylvania, supplemented by a two years' course at the School of 
Political Science at Columbia University. Outside of his studies his 
favorite reading was along the lines of history and biography. 

When he left Columbia Mr. Lathrop entered the office of the 
Evening Leader at Carbondale, Pennsylvania, a paper owned by his 
father. The profession of a newspaper man was his own choice and 
the success he has won in that work has been equally of his own earn- 
ing. From 1893 to 1897 he was editor of the Carbondale Evening 
Leader, at the end of which time he became telegraph editor and later 
city editor of the Paterson (N. J.) Press. In 1900 he left Paterson 
to become news editor of Pennsylvania Grit, Williamsport, Pennsyl- 
vania, and left Williamsport the following year, 1901, to become editor 
of the Waterhury Republican, his present office. The popularity he 
has won with the Republican party and the capacity for leadership 
that he has evinced in his editorial work prophesied a political career 
for Mr. Lathrop, and in 1904 his party sought his nomination for 
State representative. In 1903, after the death of his wife, Alice 
Chase Lathrop, whom he married in 1896, Mr. Lathrop suffered a 
nervous breakdown from which his recovery was slow, and his responsi- 
bility in building up his paper according to his ideals was such a tax 
upon his strength that he deemed it wiser to forego political honors 



WILLIAM MONROE LATPIROP 395 

than to take the risk of doing injustice either to his work or to his 
party and of bringing detriment to his health. 

Mr. Lathrop is not a club man and outside of business hours he 
finds his most congenial diversion in reading and golf. Until 1902 
he was connected with the Presbyterian Church, but he has since 
become a Congregationalist. From his own valuable experience he 
deduces the following principle for the guidance of others : "Have an 
ideal and in working for it 'don't watch the clock.' '"' 



WILLIAM HENRY HART 

HART, WILLIAM HENRY, president of the Stanley Works 
and of the Young Men's Christian Association, and director 
in many other enterprises, traces his ancestry from Deacon 
Stephen Hart, born about 1605 at Braintree, County of Essex, Eng- 
land, who came to Massachusetts Bay about 1632 and located for a 
time at Cambridge, Massachusetts, being one of the fifty-four settlers 
at that place. He became a proprietor at Hartford, Connecticut, in 
1639 and was one of the eighty-four proprietors of Farmington, Con- 
necticut, in 1672, Stephen Hart (5), son of Stephen (4) and grand- 
father of William Henry Hart, was born in New Britain, October 21st, 
1775. 

Prominent among the men to whom the city of New Britain owes 
its existence because of the industries that they have created, is Wil- 
liam Henry Hart, son of George and Elizabeth (Booth) Hart, who 
was born in New Britain, July 25th, 1834. 

The boy's hereditary birthright was rich in those qualities which 
have always marked the strong men and women of Connecticut. In- 
dustry, thrift, business foresight, and the Yankee trick of being 
handy at all sorts of practical work were his inheritance. Along with 
it went an upright and healthy soul which carried Lim safely through 
the usual temptations of youth. His immediate surroundings gave 
direction to his tastes for practical life, rather than for academic 
culture. His father was the owner of an express and stage business 
and the boy was given his share of personal responsibility as soon 
as he was able to bear any part in the world's work. He was 
also sent to private and public schools and later to the New 
Britain High School, where he is registered in the class of 1854. 
During the last four years of his school course he had gradually 
worked into practical business life, and his academic training was 
interrupted by the numerous calls made for his service as assistant to 
his father in the stage and express business, as well as acting agent in 
the local station of the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad. 



I 




i}- jT g »-r//is„^ SBrs. M-y- 




WILLIAM HENRY HAKT 399 

He might have enjoyed the advantage of college training, but his 
natural aptitudes and interests were for business life, and he went 
on in the direction of those native promptings. 

Jn August, 1853, the Stanley Works was organized with a capital 
of $30,000, to engage in the manufacture of hinges. In May, 18 "^4, 
William H. Hart was elected secretary and treasurer of this corpora- 
tion. He was a young man of nineteen, but so close had been his 
attention to business under his father's direction, and so thoroughly 
had he won the confidence of the officers of the corporation that he was 
given this important position. 

The industrial situation of the Stanley Works at this time was 
this: They were located in an inland city, where freight rates were 
high, and the distance to fuel and raw material great, while their older 
and far stronger competitors were situated in New York State, where 
rates of transportation by water through the natural channels or by 
canals were far cheaper. Two problems were before the corporation, 
and upon their successful solution depended the success of the organ- 
ization; the processes of manufacture must be brought to the highest 
pitch of economy and perfection, and a market must be created for 
the industrial output. This involved inventive skill in the suggestion 
of new processes, ability to inspire confidence and borrow money, and 
tact, patience, and unyielding pluck in meeting all the demands of a 
competitive market. 

The corporation employed about twenty men at this time. Indus- 
try in a small and growing factory was not specialized then as it is 
to-day, and the young secretary and treasurer not only kept records 
and books and received and disbursed money but also purchased sup- 
plies, packed and shipped goods, carried on correspondence, and 
acted as traveling salesman for the factory. This condition called for 
a range of industrial versatility, and creative skill, which, while it 
added labor and responsibility, stimulated the mind to self-reliant 
and resolute enterprise. 

The young officer grasped the situation and formulated his policy. 
The intrinsic worth of the goods manufactured and the economy of 
the processes employed must overcome the geographical difficulty 
involved in the location of the factory and the undeveloped character 
of the corporation. Mr. Hart's mind was fertile in suggestions whereby 
machines were built, the number of processes simplified, and a more 



400 WILLIAM HENRY HART 

perfect product put on the market. The range of product was grad- 
ually increased, so that bolts, butts, and steel brackets are now made 
in addition to hinges. 

The policy of the corporation, however, has been intensive rather 
than extensive; perfection in a few lines rather than multiplication of 
different products. The obstacles in the way of success were many. 
Repeatedly there came critical moments when the resolution and 
courage of the young manufacturer were tested almost to the point of 
yielding. He held tenaciously to the enterprise, however, with that 
plucky determination that in the end has won out with so many 
founders of great industries. The practical character of his policy was 
seen in his personal contact with the market. He traveled observantly 
and widely until he understood the needs of the consumers. Then he 
returned, to make the factory output more perfectly meet those needs. 
Step by step, Mr. Hart saw his efforts crowned with success. The 
corporation employing twenty workmen now affords industrial oppor- 
tunity in all its branches, including the department of hot and cold 
rolled steel, to twenty-two hundred wage-earners. Mr. Hart became 
its president in 1884. 

To what an extent the difficulty in the inland situation of New 
Britain has been overcome can be seen in the fact that, although the 
Stanley Works markets about one-half the product of its factories in 
territory west of Pittsburg, it can pay transportation upon its metal 
from Pennsylvania, manufacture its products in New Britain, reship 
them, and successfully compete with the western manufacturer in his 
own district. This result is the issue of years of painstaking, faith- 
ful devotion to the task on the part of Mr. Hart. 

While thus devoted to his life work in industrial lines, Mr. Hart 
has not suffered himself to become so engrossed with his tasks that 
he has ceased to be alert in civic and social interests. He has 
traveled widely in Europe and America on business and for pleasure. 
He has been for over half a century with slight interruptions 
officially connected with the New Britain Institute, the agent in all 
the best literary enterprises of the city ; he also has been president of 
the New Britain Club; a director of the New Britain National Bank 
since 1866, and, for the past five years, president of the Young Men's 
Christian Association. He has held many official positions in the 
South Congregational Church, of which he is a member. Mr. Hart's 



WILLIAM HENRY HAET 401 

benefactions have been many, the chief of which has been the un- 
stinted gift of his own personal service to every good cause in the city. 
This is especially evident in his devotion to the work of the New 
Britain General Hospital of which he was an incorporator and 
director, and is now vice-president. He has been influential in civic 
life, having served in the Common Council and on the board of street 
commissioners. Mr. Hart is a Eepublican in politics. 

On September 19th, 1885, Mr. Hart married Martha, daughter 
of Elnathan and Mary (Dewey) Peck of New Britain. They have 
five sons and a daughter, all of whom are married. Mr. Hart's sons 
have served with him their business apprenticeship with conspicuous 
success, and are now engaged in large enterprises. George P. Hart 
is vice-president and general manager of sales; Edward H. Hart, 
manager of the export department ; Walter H. Hart, manager of the 
mechanical department, and E. Allen Moore, who married his 
daughter, Martha Elizabeth, is second vice-president and general 
superintendent of the manufacturing department of the Stanley 
Works. Howard S. Hart is president and general manager of the 
Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company and vice-president of the 
American Hardware Company; Maxwell S. Hart is vice-president, 
treasurer, and general manager of the Corbin Motor Vehicle Corpora- 
tion. 

Between May, 1904, and September, 1905, Mr. Hart celebrated the 
fiftieth anniversary of his election as treasurer of the Stanley Works, 
his seventieth birthday, and the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage 
with Mrs. Hart. At the last anniversary there gathered the twenty- 
six children and grandchildren, in whose love and welfare Mr. Hart 
finds his supreme joy and satisfaction. 

In his simple tastes, industry, rectitude, and fraternal interest 
in his fellow men, he represents without assumption the noblest type 
of the indomitable, successful, high-minded Connecticut manufac- 
turer. 



JOHN HOWARD HALE 

HALE, JOHN HOWARD, popularly known as the "Peach King 
of America," is one of the foremost horticulturists and 
pomologists of our day, as well as owner and manager of the 
greatest peach industry in this country. He is a descendant of 
Samuel Hale who came from Wales, England, in 1634, and later 
joined the Connecticut Colony. In 1838 he bought the farm 
in Glastonbury that Mr, Hale now owns. He served in the 
Pequot War. Mr. Hale's parents were John A. Hale and Hen- 
rietta S. Moseley. He was born in Glastonbury, Hartford County, 
Connecticut, November 25th, 1853. His father was general 
agent of the ^tna Insurance Company of Hartford, and most 
influential in building up that company. He was a man of great 
mental and physical strength, whole-souled, liberal, kind-hearted, and 
always doing for others. His legacy to his son was one of character 
rather than fortune, and Mr. Hale was obliged to leave school at a 
very early age, and help in the support of the family. 

At fourteen John Howard Hale went to work by the month on a 
farm in New Britain, earning $13. 50 a month for fourteen hours' labor, 
seven days in the week. In eight months he spent but seven dollars 
on himself; the rest he sent home except $16.00 spent for fruit trees — 
the nucleus of the great Hale Nurseries. He considers the hard work 
and poverty of his youth a great blessing. His mother was a noble 
woman of high ideals. Of her, Mr. Hale says : "She kept tabs on me 
with such jolly good fellowship that there were no secrets between 
us." 

Mr. Hale was determined from his childhood to be a horticul- 
turist. His incentive in this grew out of his mother's love of fruits 
and flowers. His career had a most humble beginning ; for apparatus, 
a shovel, a spade, a hoe, and a push-cart ; for results, a small straw- 
berry bed ; proceeds, $8.00. To-day Mr. Hale has three thousand acres 
of highly cultivated orchard lands at Fort Valley, Georgia, South 
Glastonbury and Seymour, Connecticut, and the push-cart has grown 



JOHN HOWARD HALE 403 

into a huge electric express system of fruit shipments with scores of 
refrigerator cars. This great progress has been effected through his 
energy, optimism, and executive ability. 

Mr. Hale is now sole owner and manager of the J. H. Hale's 
Nursery and Fruit Farms at Glastonbury, president of the Hale 
Georgia Orchard Company, at Fort Valley, Georgia, and president and 
general manager of the Hale and Coleman Orchard Company at 
Seymour, Connecticut. He was the first American orchardist to sort, 
grade, and pack fruit, and label and guarantee it according to its 
grade. He was the first in America to use trolley transportation 
in the fruit business, and is one of the very few Americans who ship 
peaches to Europe. He is fittingly called the "Father of Peach Cul- 
ture in New England." Mr. Hale has also initiated many now ideas 
in fruit advertising. Another novel feature introduced by him is 
that of having an orchestra play in the packing rooms at the Georgia 
orchards. Aside from bettering and developing horticulture all over 
America, Mr. Hale has done a valuable service to his state in making 
many acres of so-called "abandoned" hill lands of Connecticut and 
New England to bloom with beautiful orchards. 

For the past fifteen years Mr. Hale has lectured on horticulture 
and kindred subjects before agricultural institutions, granges, col- 
leges, and both state and national horticultural meetings. From 1894 
to 1899 Mr. Hale was president of the Connecticut Pomological So- 
ciety. In 1895 he was president of the American Nurserymen's Associ- 
ation. Since 1903, he has been president of the American Pomological 
Society, which office is the highest honor in the gift of the fruit 
growers of America. As horticultural agent for the Eleventh Census 
of the United States he initiated several special investigations never 
before attempted by the Government; notably, floriculture, nurseries, 
semi-tropic fruit, nuts, and seed farms. He has recently started the 
revival of apple planting on the hill lands of Connecticut, which 
promises to do much for that valuable industry. 

Mr. Hale has written numerous articles on horticultural topics 
for the World's Work, Country Life in America, and other period- 
icals. For twelve years he was associate editor of the Philadelphia 
Farm Journal, and for fifteen years he edited the agricultural column 
of the Hartford Courant. He has had important positions in the 
State Grange, and has sacrificed a great deal of time and money in 



404 JOHN HOWARD HALE 

strengthening that organization, being at tlie head of same from 1886 
to 1890, and now chairman of the executive committee. He was also 
first president of the Glastonbury Business Men's Association. 

In politics Mr. Hale is a Eepublican, "with a conscience, a fair 
memory, and a sharp lead pencil on election days." He represented 
his party in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1893-4, serving 
as member of Judiciary committee and chairman of committee on 
agriculture. His creed is the "Golden Eule." His favorite recreation 
is riding in the country "with eyes and ears open." He is exceedingly 
fond of a good horse. 

In his advice to others can be formed the reasons for his own well- 
earned prosperit}^ After recommending promptness and adherence to 
agreement he saj's : "Do not take up any work or profession that you 
cannot find real enjoyment in. No one can fully succeed who does 
not love his work. Try to find Joy in all you do; the world will 
reward you when the right time comes. Be loyal to your ideals, your 
town, and state, and your friends. Be regular in all your habits. 
Get some fun every day. You can get the most by making others 
happy." 



JAMES ULYSSES TAINTOR 

TAINTOE, JAMES ULYSSES, general agent of the Phoenix 
Insurance Company of Hartford, secretary of the Orient In- 
surance Company, also of Hartford, and one of the most able 
fire insurance adjusters in Connecticut, was born in Pomfret, Wind- 
ham County, Connecticut, October 23rd, 1844. He is of Welsh-Scotch 
extraction and his first paternal ancestor in America was Charles 
Taintor who came to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1640. Michael 
Taintor, son of Charles, was an original settler and leading citizen 
of Branford, Connecticut, and Charles Taintor (2) a descendant of 
Michael, was a prominent man in the commissary department of 
Connecticut during the Revolution. Mr. Taintor's father was RaJph 
Smith Taintor, a farmer, who held various town offices in Colchester, 
Connecticut, whither he moved in 1848, and was a member of the 
State senate in 1857. He was a kind, liberal, and temperate man 
who was always considerate of others and who was a man of great 
physical vigor and force and consequent energy and of marked indus- 
try. On the maternal side Mr. Taintor is descended from Scottish 
and English stock and his first maternal ancestor in America was 
Thomas Lord, who came to Hartford with Hooker's famous band in 
1635. Mr. Taintor's mother was Phebe Higgins Lord, a woman whose 
firm and noble character greatly influenced his moral and mental life. 
A strong, hardy country boy, blessed with a fine constitution and 
abundant energy, James Taintor was not hindered from securing a 
thorough education by the severe financial difficulties that he was 
obliged to face. He was naturally studious and managed to prepare 
himself for the college education which he was determined to have, 
by studying at home during the hours he could snatch from farm 
work and on stormy days and by attending school at the Bacon 
Academy, Colchester, in the winter term. He employed his evenings 
in reading and study and took especial interest in history, biography, 
and mathematics. He read the best fiction and kept up with the 
political and social questions of the times. During the summers of 1860, 



106 JAMES ULYSSES TAINTOR 

1861, and 1805, he employed the hours in which he could be spared 
from labor on his father's farm in "working out'' for a neighboring 
farmer and with the forty dollars thus earned as his sole capital he 
ventured upon a college course. He insured his life in favor of a 
friend who advanced money for four years' college expenses, and was 
graduated from Yale in 1866 with a B.A. degree and three thousand 
dollars in debt. Three years later he took his M.A. degree at Yale. 
By great diligence in teaching and serving as assistant clerk in the 
legislature while in college, and as clerk after leaving college, he man- 
aged to pay off the debt and start afresh in the fire insurance business, 
his real life work, which he has carried on in Hartford. 

For nineteen years Mr. Taintor has been general agent and 
adjuster of losses of the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford and 
for twelve years he has been secretary of the Orient Insurance Company 
in the same city. He has had no other active business connections and 
has seldom held public office, having no taste for political and civic 
positions. He was, however, street commissioner for the city of Hart- 
ford for six years from 1888 to 1894. He has taken great interest in 
the business affairs of the Congregational Church, of which he is a mem- 
ber. He is and always has been an adherent to the Eepublican party 
in politics. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Masons. Mr. 
Taintor has been twice married. In 1868 he married Catharine 
Augusta Ballard of Colchester, who died in 1875. His second wife, 
whom he married in 1878, was Isabelle Spencer of Hartford. Mr. 
and Mrs. Taintor, whose home is on Asylum Avenue, Hartford, have 
two sons, James Spencer Taintor and Nelson Case Taintor; the 
former was graduated at Yale, class of 1901, and the latter is in Yale, 
class of 1909. 

"Temperate habits, industry, economy, tenacity of purpose, per- 
severance and patience" are the essentials of success according to Mr. 
Taintor's opinion and experience. His advice has added force, coming 
from one who has carved his own way to success and has done so in 
ihe face of serious obstacles. 





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DAVID NELSON CAMP 

AMP, DAVID NELSON", of New Britain, educator, banker, 
and author, was born October 3rd, 1820, in Durham, Middle- 
sex County, on the farm of his father, Elah Camp, who was 
a teacher, farmer, justice of the peace, and deacon of the Congrega- 
tional church. His ancestor, Nicholas Camp, came over from Eng- 
land in 1638, and the following year settled in Milford. On his 
mother^s side he is a descendant of Theophilus Eaton, the first 
governor of the New Haven Colony. 

Brought up as a country boy, David Camp worked on his father's 
farm, and later was intrusted with the keeping of the accounts of 
expenditures and sales. He grew up vmder the watchful care of his 
mother, whose influence upon his moral and spiritual life was espe- 
cially strong. She wished him to become a missionary, but ill health 
prevented his preparation for this calling. As a boy his chief pleas- 
ures were reading, fishing, and hunting. While working on the farm, 
he received private instruction, and, later, attended in turn Durham 
Academy, Meriden Academy, and the Hartford Grammar School. An 
illness, which left him nearly blind, prevented him from taking a 
college course; but in 1853 he was awarded the honorary' degree of 
Master of Arts by Yale Universit}^ 

Unable to become a missionary, Mr. Camp adopted teaching as 
a profession, and for forty years he remained an educator. For ten 
years he taught in the public schools in North Guilford, Branford, 
North Branford, and Meriden, and then in the Meriden Institute. 
When, in 1850, the State Normal School was established, he was 
appointed teacher of mathematics, moral philosophy, and geography. 
He was appointed associate principal in 1855, and in 1857 became its 
principal. Ill health forced him to resign after several years, and 
he went to Europe to visit educational institutions. While there 
he was appointed professor in the Maryland State College, which was 
just being reopened after the Civil War. Upon the establishment 
of the Bureau of Education at Washington, Mr. Camp was asked 
to enter its service with Dr. Henry Barnard, commissioner, which 



410 DAVID NELSON CAMP 

he did. In 1868 his father died and he returned to Connecticut, 
where he engaged in literary work for some years. Among the books 
he has written are "The Globe Manual," "Primary," "Intermediate," 
and "Higher" Geographies, "American Year Book and National Regis- 
ter," and the "History of New Britain, Farmington, and Berlin." 
He took up teaching again in the New Britain Seminary, but failing 
health compelled him to discontinue it in 1880. Since then he has 
been engaged in literary work and active business. He is president 
of the Adkins Printing Company, president of the Skinner Chuck 
Company, director and vice-president of the New Britain National 
Bank, and director of the Cooperative Savings Society. 

In the political world Mr. Camp has been an active Republican, 
holding in turn the office of state superintendent of schools, alder- 
man, mayor, member of the General Assembly, and chairman of the 
committee on education. For ten years he was president of the Con- 
necticut Temperance Union, and for twenty-five years he has been 
auditor and chairman of the finance committee of the Missionary 
Society of Connecticut, and since 1900 its president. As an educator, 
he has held the office of secretary and president of the Connecticut 
Teachers' Association, and secretary of the National Educational 
Association, and for several years was president and is now vice- 
president of the New Britain Institute, and has been chairman of its 
library committee for fifty years. 

In 1844 David N. Camp married Sarah Adaline Howd. He 
became the father of two children, one of whom is still living. In 
his own words, Mr. Camp's philosophy of life is: "Abstain from aU 
intoxicants, have faith in God and man, and live to make others 
happy and the world better." His long career shows that he has 
followed these teachings. He has always been an advocate of tem- 
perance, and, as president of the Connecticut Temperance Society, 
he has for years done much to aid its cause. Unable to be a mis- 
sionary, he has been active and helpful in church work and in the 
State Missionary Society. Forty years of his life have been spent 
in imparting knowledge to others, and this was in spite of the fact 
that his delicate health suffered in consequence. His name is found 
on the rolls of a dozen or more societies or organizations which have 
for their object something which tends toward the betterment of 
humanity. In his long life he has done much to win the respect and 
the gratitude of all those with whom he has come in contact. 



JUDSON HALL ROOT 

ROOT, JUDSON" HALL, merchant, was born in Hartford, Hart- 
lord County, Connecticut, May 29th, 1840, the son of Eliza- 
beth Taylor Eoot and Samuel Eoot, a graduate of Yale, a 
lawyer in training, but who never practiced. Mr. Eoot is a descend- 
ant from Thomas Eoot who came from England and settled in Hart- 
ford in 1637. Jesse Eoot, one of Thomas Eoot's descendants, and the 
great-grandfather of Mr. Judson H. Eoot, was born in Coventry in 
1736, and was one of the early settlers of Hartford. He was a Prince- 
ton graduate and a successful lawyer. In 1763 he was made a 
lieutenant of a company of militia in his native town and soon rose to 
the rank of colonel. He served as a captain of volunteers in 1777 and 
in many important civil capacities during the Eevolution. He was 
state's attorney and was a member of the General Assembly and of 
Congress several times. He was appointed a Judge of the Superior 
Court in 1789 and chief judge in 1798. He was presidential elector 
in 1808, and on Washington's visit to Hartford he made the address 
of welcome. In 1800 he received the degree of LL.D. from Yale 
College. The father of General Grant was named after him, and 
Tapping Eeeve and Oliver Ellsworth were among his pupils in legal 
science. 

Judson H. Eoot spent his youth in Hartford and was educated at 
the Hartford Public High School. At sixteen he began work in a 
dry goods store and was thrown upon his own resources from that 
time on. He chose for himself the career of a merchant and has per- 
sisted in it ever since. His mother's encouragement and the success of 
others have been his greatest incentives in his work. From the 
humble position of clerk he has risen to that of partner in the firm of 
H. C. Judd & Eoot, which stands in the front rank of wool dealers 
in the country. 

In addition to his mercantile interests Mr. Eoot has seen five 
years of service in the State militia. In politics he has always been a 
Republican, and in creed a Congregationalist. He has always been 



412 JUDSON HALL ROOT 

devoted to out-of-door sports and to physical culture. Golf, fishing, 
automobiling, and driving are his favorite amusements. On May 
10th, 1865, Mr. Eoot married Catherine S. Waterman. One child, 
a daughter, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Eoot. 

The advice of one of the most conservative and successful mer- 
chants of Hartford should have great weight for those seeking the 
secret of his success. He gives the following simple but adequate list 
of the qualifications for a truly successful business life: "Honesty, 
sobriety, stability, and perseverance." 



WALTER OSGOOD WHITCOMB 

WBITCOMB, WALTER OSGOOD, president of the Whit- 
comb Metallic Bedstead Company of Shelton, Connecticut, 
and well known for his many other business connections, 
was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, August 11th, 1855. His 
earliest paternal ancestor in this country was William Wadsworth, 
who came to Virginia in 1620, in Captain Daniel Gookin's company, 
and afterwards, in 1636, settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and became 
one of the wealthiest and most influential proprietors of that town. 
His brother was a direct ancestor of Heni*y Wadsworth Longfellow, 
and his son, Joseph Wadsworth, was the man who seized the famous 
Connecticut charter and secreted it in its historic hiding place. The 
Wadsworths have been prominent citizens of Connecticut since the 
earliest Colonial days. Fern Wadsworth, of the Farmington branch 
of the family, was commissary under General Washington, and also 
for the French Army under Count De Rochambeau. His son, Daniel 
Wadsworth, married the eldest daughter of the second Governor 
Trumbull. Mr. Whitcomb's maternal ancestry is no less distinguished, 
being traceable to Dolar Davis who came from England, and settled in 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1634, and from whom were descended 
Chief Justice Custis of Louisiana, Chief Justice Isaac Parker of 
Massachusetts, and James Davis of Holden, Massachusetts, the com- 
mander of a company of men who fought at Lexington. George Ban- 
croft, the historian, had Davis blood in his veins, as did L. Gardner, 
the man who built and held Fort Saybrook during the Pequot dis- 
turbance in 1639. 

Mr. Whitcomb's father was Charles Wadsworth Whitcomb, a 
physician of great skill and gentleness of manner. He was a member 
of the school board, examining surgeon of the United States Gov- 
ernment, and State medical examiner. Mr. Whitcomb's mother was 
Marion Estabrook, a remarkable woman whose moral and spiritual 
influence on her son was intense and lasting. 

At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Whitcomb took a clerical position 



414 WALTER OSGOOD WHITCOMB 

with the Boston and Albany Kailroad at East Boston, Massachusetts, 
and this step was his real "start in life." From early boyhood, Mr. 
Whitcomb had been actuated by a definite desire to control a business 
of a manufacturing nature, and the environment of a manufacturing 
cqpimunity fostered this desire. In 1881 he left the Boston and 
Albany Company to take a similar position with the Bell Telephone 
Company, and was concerned with their financial interests in New 
York until 1883. In 1884 he became a partner in the manufacturing 
and importing firm of Charles P. Kogers & Company of New York, 
and remained with them six years. In 1890 Mr. Whitcomb became 
president of the Whitcomb Metallic Bedstead Company of Shelton, 
Connecticut, which position he still holds, and which brought the 
realization of his youthful ambition. 

On January 15th, 1885, Mr. Whitcomb was married to Anna R. 
Washburn, eldest daughter of Governor and United States Senator 
William B. Washburn of Massachusetts. They have had no children. 
Their home is in New Haven, where, to use Mr. Whitcomb's own 
words, they lead a "quiet and contented existence." Mr. Whitcomb 
is a member of the Quinnipiack Club, the Country Club, Historical 
Society, and the Congregational Club, all of New Haven. He is 
fond of travel and all out-of-door sports. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, and has never changed his allegiance except on local or state 
issues. 

Achieving, as he has, success, even beyond his early ambitions, Mr. 
Whitcomb's career may well be a model to young men starting in life. 
To them he says : "Practice the Golden Rule. Be uniformly courte- 
ous and considerate of all. Whatever your hand findeth to do, do it 
with all your might. Give the best and most conscientious service to 
your employer, regardless of compensation. Respect all forms of 
honest labor and perform your share of it." 



JAMES SWAN 

SWAN, JAMES, the widely known manufacturer of mechanics' 
tools, son of William and Mary (Beck) Swan, was born in Dum- 
fries, Scotland, December 18th, 1833. For many genera- 
tions the Swan families lived in the same beautiful valley in Southern 
Scotland, in the midst of the religious persecutions of the time, 
through which were developed so many noble sons of Scotland for 
service in the advance of civilization throughout the world. 
There is recorded in the book of the Covenanters the service of 
William Swan in behalf of a company of Covenanters whom he had 
concealed in his barn at Dalswinton, north of Dumfries. The report 
of this fact reached the ears of the soldiers who were soon approaching 
the scene. But being discovered in time, Mr. Swan devised a plan of 
dispute between himself and wife, whereby the barn was locked in the 
face of the soldiers, giving them the impression that there was nothing 
in the barn but a quantity of wool locked up for safe keeping. The 
plan was so successful that the Covenanters were saved. Eeared 
among these historic associations, it is no more than natural that 
James Swan inherited the excellent spirit and traits of his 
parents and the race of great destiny. He was first cousin to Senator 
James B. Beck who represented Kentucky twelve years in Congress, 
from the 40th to the 43rd Congress, and was the only senator from 
the South who remained loyal to the Union throughout the Civil 
War. The friendship between Senator Beck and James Swan con- 
tinued from their school days in Dumfries until the death of the 
Senator. 

Receiving a common school education, James Swan was early 
apprenticed to learn the millwright trade, including work in both 
wood and iron, having for a master one of the most skilled in the 
guild. His close application to his trade and thoroughness in work 
qualified him for important and responsible positions. 

Thinking that America offered the largest opportunities to am- 
bitious young men, he resolved to seek his fortune across the sea. 



418 JAMES SWAN 

It was near the close of 1853 when he arrived in New York, being 
then only twenty years of age. He first went to the home of his 
uncle, Ebenezer Beck, in Wyoming, New York. Not satisfied with 
the outlook there and desiring to see more of the country, James 
went to Birmingham, now Derby, Connecticut, where he secured 
employment with the Bassett Iron Works. Soon after, a better 
position was offered him with the Farrel Foundry and Machine Com- 
pany in Ansonia. His ability was here recognized and he was promoted 
to serve as superintendent of the works from 1858 to 1865. During 
this period he closely applied himself to become master of all depart- 
ments of his trade, thus qualifying himself for independent action 
when the opportunity came. 

In 1865 Mr. Swan went to Seymour as superintendent of the 
Douglass Manufacturing Company, which was engaged in the manu- 
facture of augers and bits, an industry then peculiar to this locality, 
the first tools of this kind having been made in Seymour (then 
Humph reysville) early in the century. 

The increase in the business soon demanded the enlargement of 
the works. Mr. Swan became a director in the company and an active 
factor in its management. In 1874 the business was purchased by 
James Flint and the Kussell & Erwin Manufacturing Company of 
New York, who consolidated with it, in 1876, the Edged Tool Works 
which they had hitherto operated in Arlington, Vermont. The fol- 
lowing year, 1877, seeing the possibilities of a large and prosperous 
business, Mr. Swan purchased the whole plant, together with the real 
estate, and entered upon a new period of prosperity. The Kussell & 
Erwin Company was retained as his sales agents in New York and 
Philadelphia. 

Long experience had qualified Mr. Swan for new undertakings 
in the line of inventions and patents, which have probably sur- 
passed in both number and excellence those of all other persons 
engaged in similar manufacturing. He has taken out nearly eighty 
patents for inventions and improvements in mechanics' tools, and his 
shops turn out more than one hundred varieties of tools, some of 
which are unsurpassed in any country. All these show the magni- 
tude of his work and unceasing industry. He has likewise simplified 
the process of manufacturing, with labor saving devices. Among the 
great variety of his tools there are to be seen all kinds of chisels, 



JAMES SWAN 41S> 

gouges, drawing knives, screw-drivers, augers and bits, gimlets, hol- 
low augers, boring machines. Cook's and Jennings' bits, also the pat- 
ent expansion bits, and many others. As to quality, only first class 
goods are placed upon the market. His twisted augers and bits 
have been looked upon by mechanics of the Old World as marvels of 
genius and skill. 

In 1895 the James Swan Company was organized, with a capi- 
tal of $125,000, with James Swan as president and treasurer, and 
his three sons occupying positions at the head of the several depart- 
ments: William B. Swan as superintendent of the auger and bit 
works; John Swan as superintendent of the Edged Tool Works, and 
Albert Swan as office manager. 

The company has now in its employ one hundred and twenty- 
five skilled mechanics who turn out superior work in their several 
departments. This superiority of work is accounted for in part by 
the spirit of cooperation existing between the workmen and the officers 
of the company, for all their needs are met with consideration and 
Justice. And it is a noteworthy fact that some of the workmen have 
served from thirty to thirty-five years. 

Mr. Swan has developed a large export trade with South America, 
the European countries, and Australia. His numerous exhibits have 
brought him premiums; in 1865 at the American Institute Fair; in 
1867 at the Paris Exposition; in 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition, 
Philadelphia; in 1878 at the Paris Exhibition; in 1879 at the Ex- 
position in Sydney, Australia (first prize) ; in 1885 at the New 
Orleans Exposition (first prize) ; in 1893 at the World's Fair, 
Chicago. 

Mr. Swan has held many responsible positions: president of the 
James Swan Company, the H. A. Matthews Manufacturing Company, 
and the Seymour Electric Light Company; director of the Ansonia 
National Bank; president of the Seymour Board of Education and 
of the Board of Directors of the Public Library; chief engineer of 
Citizens Engine Company. As chief of Citizens Engine Company 
he has served since 1885, a period of twenty years. He served on 
the building committee for the erection of a handsome engine house, 
and his personal oversight was given during the construction of a 
first class fire engine. For the encouragement of the department 
Mr. Swan has been a generous contributor, and much of its success 



420 JAMES SWAN 

has been due to him. Mr. Swan also served as chairman of the 
soldiers' monument committee in 1904 and the beautiful memorial 
erected in the public park of Seymour is in large measure due to his 
efforts. 

Being the president of the Seymour Board of Education, he was 
instrumental in securing the erection of a fine high school building 
with seating capacity for 450 pupils. For the encouragement of 
scholarship he has regularly given prizes to the three graduates of 
the highest standing. 

In 1872 he had the honor of representing the town in the legis- 
lature by being the first Eepublican representative, his reputation and 
firm principles winning for him the place above the former large 
Democratic majority. 

Nowhere does he find greater pleasure than serving as president 
of the Board of Directors of the Public Library. In cooperation with 
the late Hon. Carlos French he has done everything possible in the 
way of helpfulness for enlarging the usefulness of both library and 
reading room. 

Since 1866 Mr. Swan has been a member of Morning Star 
Lodge, F. & A. M. He is also a charter member of the Nonnawauk 
Tribe, Improved Order of Eed Men. 

Mr. Swan is a member of the Congregational Church and served 
as superintendent of the Sunday School from 1872 to 1883. The 
"Parish Library" connected with the church was founded by Mr. 
Swan, as there was no public library at the time, and during the years 
since he has been a liberal contributor in both money and books for 
its maintenance. Likewise in times of need the church has received his 
generous support, in the spirit of a true benefactor. 

His recreation he takes in travel, spending some months of every 
year in Europe or in the more remote parts of this country. 

James Swan, son of William and Mary (Beck) Swan married 
Agnes, daughter of William and Margaret (Caird) Bell of Dum- 
frieshire, Scotland, in New York City, N. Y., 1857. Of the seven 
children born to them, there are now living William Beck Swan, 
Mary Jessie, John, and Albert. 

No greater joy of earth can come to a self-made man than that 
of being useful to his fellow men all along life's journey. 



MAHLON HENRY MARLIN 

MAELIN, MAHLON HENRY, manufacturer, president and 
treasurer of the Marlin Fire Arms Company of New Haven, 
was born in Windsor Locks, Hartford County, Connecticut, 
July 23rd, 1864. On his father's side he is descended from Mahlon 
Marlin, who came from England, and from his wife, Janet Brad- 
foot, who came from Scotland. On his mother's side he is descended 
from Henry Bacon Moore and Susan Adams Barnard. His father, 
John Mahlon Marlin, was a manufacturer and a man of great 
perseverance, self-reliance, and industry. Mr. Marlin's mother was 
Martha Susan Moore Marlin, and of her he says: "I owe much to 
my mother for whatever success I may have in life." 

There were no obstacles in the way of Mr. Marlin's acquisition of 
an education. He had excellent health and spent his youth as well 
as his later life in the city of New Haven. He read a great deal and 
was particularly interested in history, biography, and books of travel. 
Shakespeare, Dickens, and Thackeray were his favorite authors. He 
prepared for college at the Hillhouse High School and then entered 
the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, where he was 
graduated in 1886. That same summer he entered business in the fac- 
tory of the Marlin Fire Arms Company. In the fall of the fol- 
lowing year, 1887, he married Mary Moore Aldrich, by whom he has 
had one child. Mr. Marlin has continued steadily in the manufactur- 
ing business and his success has been equally steady. He has been 
secretary and vice-president, and is now president and treasurer of the 
Marlin Fire Arms Company, one of the largest concerns of the kind 
in New England. 

An active and enthusiastic Yale alumnus, Mr. Marlin is a member 
of the Graduates Club and the Yale Club. He is also a member of the 
New Haven Country Club and the Lawn Club. As a young man he 
was greatly interested in football and baseball, being full back on 
the Yale 'Varsity Eleven in 1884. He is still a great believer in 
systematic exercise and finds great pleasure in golf. His home is 
at 312 Temple Street, New Haven. 



THOMAS EAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY 

PROFESSOR THOMAS RAYA^ESFORD LOUNSBURY of 
Yale University was born in Ovid, Seneca County, New York, 
on New Year's day, 1838, the son of Thomas and Mary 
Janette Woodward Lounsbury. His father was a clergyman, and from 
earliest childhood, save when on the firing line in the Civil War, 
Professor Lounsbury has lived in a literary atmosphere. The 
records may not show that he is a direct descendant of Geoffrey 
Chaucer, but any who have sat at his feet to hear him expound the 
great poet, or who have read the professor's books and essays, must 
have been impressed with certain points of similarity in the fourteenth 
century master and his twentieth century disciple; he who knows his 
Chaucer aright is drawn most by his kindly nature, his abundant 
humor, and his sterling good sense, and he who has come under the 
spell of Professor Lounsbury's learning gladly testifies that these 
same qualities abound in him. 

If anything were needed to confirm the theory of descent from 
the author of "Canterbury Tales," it is to be found in the professor's 
answer recently to a question put to him in the interests of general 
helpful information gathered from leading men. The question was, 
"Did you have any difficulties to overcome in acquiring an education ?" 
His prompt reply was, "Learning to read." By some that would 
be taken as a spark of his delicious humor, but considered solemnly, 
as it was uttered, it resolves itself into this : The man who can 
read Chaucer as glibly as he can Eugene Field must have come by it 
through inheritance; and to such an one, the reading of the West- 
minster Assembly Catechism — which the professor says was one of his 
most helpful books — may have proved in reality a most serious diffi- 
culty. 

His catechism mastered then, he completed his preparatory course 
at Ovid Academy and was graduated from Yale with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts in 1859. When he says, "I never earned a degree; 
they were given to me," he includes this first one perhaps uncon- 



THOMAS RAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY 423 

sciously ; if to earn a thing means to work for it, he did not earn even 
this, for the college curriculum meant pleasure, not labor, for him. 

From the college whose fame he was one day to increase, he went 
to New York, where he was engaged as an assistant in preparing 
Appleton's American Cyclopedia. But student that he is and always 
has been, he never was a recluse, and Lincoln's call for troops in 1861 
stirred the good red blood in his veins. When the first few months 
did not "settle" the strife, as so many had prophesied, he was one of 
those who believed it was their duty to go to the front. In 1862 ho 
went out as a lieutenant with the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth 
New York Volunteers, but was speedily detached on staff duty in 
some form of which he continued till the end of the war. Immediately 
upon the declaration of peace he devoted himself to his books. 

It was at the beginning of the second term of the academic year 
1869-70, that Yale claimed him for her own. He came humbly, 
as a tutor in English in the Sheffield Scientific School. One year 
later he was advanced to the full professorship, the position he still 
holds, together with that of librarian of the school — the beloved dean 
of the Yale literary teachers, an authority throughout the land. And 
when we say "authority," we mean it in its broadest, most popular 
sense, an authority whom the masses can laud. For it is he who has 
had the courage to stand up and sa}', against the "Six Oracles": 
"Until the time comes when our language approaches the phonetic 
excellence of the Italian, Spanish, or German, no small share of our 
time will be spent in the profitable and exciting occupation of con- 
sulting dictionaries, or the equally profitable and exciting discussion of 
the pronunciation of particular words and in airing our opinions and 
delivering our decisions upon points about which one thoroughly 
educated man is as good an authority as another and nobody is an 
authority at all." 

The professor has given his time to his pupils and to the friends 
who revel in his companionship, lecturing abroad now and then, 
contributing occasional essays to the periodicals and publishing a 
few books, but books that will live. The first of these books was an 
edition of Chaucer's "Parlement of Foules," followed by his "His- 
tory of the English Language," a precious guide to students, published 
in 1879, with a revised edition in 1894. In 1882, after long research, 
he published, in the American Men of Letters series, "The Life of 



424 THOMAS EAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY 

James Fenimore Cooper," which is almost as fascinating as one of 
the "Leather Stocking Tales." Then came his "Studies in Chaucer," 
in three volumes, most helpful in the class room and in the library. 
In 1901 and 1903 respectively, he gave us "Shakespeare as a 
Dramatist" and "Shakespeare and Voltaire," in a series entitled 
"Shakespearean Wars," and there is now in the press the third volume 
of this series, entitled "The Text of Shakespeare," "The Standard 
of Pronunciation in English" appeared in 1904, to be variously 
received by staid critics and to be applauded by the people more and 
more as the days go by. His latest work is an appreciative sketch 
of the life of his warm friend and earnest admirer, Charles Dudley 
Warner, which introduces the new and complete edition of Mr. 
Warner's works. There was much in common — some things in 
particular — between these two stalwarts of Connecticut, and one 
of the things in particular was their love of strong, vigorous English, 
not hidebound, clear, graceful, refreshing, and illuminating. Rules 
could confine neither; their goal was the intellect of the reader, and 
they never failed to reach it, each in his own untrammeled way. 
Another thing in particular was their love of archaeology, for archas- 
ology's sake, without pedantry. The homes of both of them were 
rich in the trophies of their researches, and many of Mr. Warner's hap- 
piest days were those when Professor Lounsbury was with him at his 
Hartford residence, looking over and talking over his collections. 
Both, too, had deep veins of humor, so that their conversation would 
keep a listener bubbling over with merriment. They appeared like 
"boys together" and undoubtedly appearances did not belie them. 
It was eminently fitting that the professor should be chosen Mr. 
Warner's literary executor. 

Official recognition of the professor's genius was given by Yale 
in 1892, when his Alma Mater awarded him the degree of LL.D. 
Harvard conferred like honor the following year. Lafayette College 
gave the degree of L.H.D. in 1895, which example was followed by 
Princeton in 189G. 

When the professor went to Boston in 1905 for a course of lec- 
tures on "The Transition Period in English Literature from the 
Georgian Era to the Elizabethan," at Lowell Institute, the literary 
editor of the Boston Transcript, in the course of a long, analytical 
article said: "He is a big, broad-gauged man, marked by absence 



THOMAS RATNESFORD LOUNSBURY 425 

of cant and petty pedantry." Burton J. Hendricks in the Critic says 
of him: "The intellectual world knows Professor Lounsbury as one 
of the rarest scholars of this generation; as a man who has under- 
stood the mother tongue and its history, and who has written upon 
it with a clearness and a pungency in every way worthy of the subject. 
The professor, also like his author (Chaucer), has a keen sense of 
controversy. It is owing to this that his learning is a great delight 
to him, for it enables him to shatter more than one far-fetched 
theory and to prick no end of cheap pedantic bubbles." 

As might be concluded from these comments, the professor is, 
above all, a man. He commands the love as well as the reverence of 
his pupils as no mere scholar could. He leads in the study of the 
ancient, always remaining young himself. If anyone would question 
whether his years lie lightly upon him, he has only to meet him on 
the tennis court and learn there quickly that '^cut serve," "Lawford 
stroke," and the like stand high in his splendid vocabulary. 



SAMUEL HART 

HART, SAMUEL, D.D., D.C.L., vice-dean and professor of 
doctrinal theology and prayer book at Berkeley Divinity School, 
Middletown, Connecticut, secretary of the House of Bishops 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, historiographer of that Church, 
registrar of the Diocese of Connecticut, president of the Connecticut 
Historical Society, and one of the most able and prominent clergy- 
men, authors, scholars, and teachers of the day, was born in Say- 
brook, Middlesex County, Connecticut, on June 4th, 1845. He is 
descended from Stephen Hart who came from England to Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, about 1635 and later settled in Hartford and 
Farmington. Dr. Hart's ancestry also numbers such distinguished 
names as Captain Thomas Hart, Lieutenant William Pratt, 
John Clark, Anthony Hawkins, Giles Hamlin, Eichard Seymour, all 
of Connecticut, and Gen. Eobert Sedgwick, Gov. John Leverett, 
Francis Willoughby, and Simon Lynde, of Massachusetts. Dr. Hart's 
father was Henry Hart, a farmer and bank cashier, who was justice 
of peace and judge of probate, and his mother was Mary A. (Witter) 
Hart, from whom he received the best kind of influence. 

Spending his youth on a farm in a country village the boy, 
Samuel Hart, had plenty of work to do, helping his father on the 
farm, and plenty of satisfaction for the physical ambition of a strong 
constitution. He read eagerly and extensively, at first preferring 
books of travel, then showing an interest in mathematics, and still later 
pursuing broad and general courses of reading. His college pre- 
paratory work was done at the Episcopal Academy in Cheshire and 
was followed by a course at Trinity College leading to the B.A. degree 
which he received there in 1863. The ministry was his self-chosen 
vocation and upon the completion of his academic course he entered 
Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown, where he was graduated in 
1869, receiving the same year his Master's degree at Trinity. During 
the last year of his course at Berkeley he was a tutor in Trinity Col- 
lege. He became a deacon in 1869 and was ordained priest of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in 1870. 



SA:\tL'EL HAKT -VI i 

Soon after his ordination Dr. Hart became assistant professor of 
mathematics at Trinity and three years later, in 1ST3, he became 
professor of that subject. From 1883 to 1899 he was professor of 
Latin at Trinity, resigning his chair in 1899 to become vice-dean 
and professor of theology at Berkeley Divinity School. Meanwhile, 
in 1885, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity and 
the degree of Doctor of Canon Law in 1899. Still later, in 1902, 
Yale conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D. From 1873 
to 1888 Dr. Hart was secretary of the American Philological Associa- 
tion and he was president of that association in 1892-3. Since 1900 
he has been president of the Connecticut Historical Society; from 
1894 to 1896 he was president of the Connecticut Library Association, 
and he has been senator of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity since 1892, 
Hig offices in the Episcopal Church have ))een as numerous and 
distinguished as his scholarly offices. Since 1874 he has been regis- 
trar of the Diocese of Connecticut, since 1886 he has been custodian 
of the Standard Prayer Book of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
since 1892 he has been secretary of the House of Bishops, and since 
1898 he has been historiographer of the Church. Among the societies 
of which Doctor Hart is a member are the American Oriental Society 
of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, the American Historical Asso- 
ciation, the ISTew Haven Historical Society, the Society of Colonial 
Wars, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, aud 
the Psi ITpsilon college fraternity. 

Doctor Hart's writings are as distinguished as his more active 
services to the intellectual and religious world. In 1873 he was the 
editor of "Satires of Juvenal" and in 1875 of the "Satires of Persius." 
and at about the same time he published "Bishop Seabury's Com- 
munion Office, With Notes." "Maclear's Manual for Confirmation 
and Holy Communion" was brought out under his editorship in 1895 
and the "History of the American Prayer Book" in Frore's Procior 
in 1901. He is also the compiler of "Short Daily Prayers for 
Families," published in 1902, and he has been a frequent and eminont 
contributor to many of the best magazines. In all his works, whether 
lecture, commentary, sermon, speech, criticism, or devotional litera- 
ture, Doctor Hart shows himself a keen and brilliant thinker, a care- 
ful, graceful writer, an ardent and consistent Churchman, a sound 
theologian, a thorough scholar, a devout Christian, and a leader and 
lo;icher of men. 



WALTER CAMP 

CAMP, VYALTEE, president of the New Haven Clock Company, 
one of the largest of Connecticut's manufacturing plants, is 
also well known to college men and others as one of Yale's best 
athletic coaches and writers, and as a man who is as true an exponent 
of the Yale spirit and sportsmanship as of the literary culture of that 
university. Nicholas Camp of Nansing, Essex County, England, 
came over with Saltonstall in 1630 and settled at Waterto\\Ti, Mas- 
sachusetts. After some four generations the family settled at Durham, 
Connecticut, where Leverett Lee Camp, father of Walter, was born. 
]\[r. Walter Camp was born in New Britain, Hartford County, Con- 
necticut, April 7th, 1859, the son of Ellen Cornwell and Leverett Lee 
Camp, a teacher and publisher, and a man of rare generosity, tact, 
and sympathy, and above all gifted with great ability in imparting 
knowledge to others. Among JMr. Camp's earlier ancestors were 
Theophilus Eaton, an early governor of New Haven Colony, and 
William Camp and Charles Cornwell, who took part in the Civil War. 
The boy, Walter Camp, was a lean, wiry, and enduring youth 
devoted to reading and athletics. As a child he read voraciously 
every available book, and as a college man he read with equal zest 
and became familiar with the best literature. Books relating to wars 
had a special charm for him in his boyhood days. He lived in the 
country until he was old enough to be sent away to school, when he 
attended the Hopkins Grammar School and prepared for Yale Col- 
lege. Entering without conditions he made the first division and 
secured both junior and senior appointments. He took his A.B. 
degree in 1880 and then entered the Yale Medical School, but after 
passing all but two subjects for a doctor's degree went into business, 
owing to the death of the surgeon with whom he had intended 
beginning his professional career. The desire to more quickly earn 
his own living determined this step and he entered the 
factory of the Manhattan Watch Company of Monroe Street, New 
York. From this he entered the New York offices of the New Haven 
Clock Company and steadily advanced through the selling end to the 




Vaj cJLW c^hJ^A.^^ 



WALTER CAMP 431 

export department and thence to a position as assistant treasurer at 
New Haven. Upon the death of the president he was chosen presi- 
dent and treasurer. 

The strong literary influence of his home life and his keen and 
active interest in athletics in school and college became naturally 
the dominant forces in Mr. Camp's career, and a harmony of these 
interests has resulted in his widely read literature on athletic sub- 
jects. Mr. Camp's books are valuable not only for their accurate 
technical knowledge that makes the sports intelligible to outsiders, 
and gives to athletics the authentic instructions of a successful coach, 
but they are also valuable because they instill principles of fair 
play, pluck, and honest persistence. Mr. Camp has also collaborated 
with others. The best known of Mr. Camp's individual works are his 
"Book of College Sports," "American Football," "Football Facts 
and Figures," and his articles written in his editorial capacity in 
Collier's, the Century^ Outing, Library for Young People, the Yale 
Magazine, and many other periodicals to which he has been a con- 
stant and popular contributor. Of the books written in collaboration 
the widest read are "Yale, Her Campus and Athletics," "Drives and 
Puts," and "Football." 

Aside from his work as Yale's athletic adviser, and as an author, 
Mr. Camp is prominently identified with the manufacturing interests 
of the New Haven Clock Company, being president, treasurer, and 
general manager. He is also a director in Peck Brothers, manufac- 
turers of brass goods. He is a member of the Yale University 
Council, secretary and treasurer of Hopkins Grammar School, and 
sports editor of several leading magazines. 

Fraternally Mr. Camp is a member of D.K.E., Skull and Bones, 
the University Club of New York, the Graduates Club, the New 
Haven Country Club, and the Pine Orchard Country Club. In 
politics he is a Republican, in religion an Episcopalian. Mr. Camp 
was married, June 30th, 1888, to Alice Graham Sumner, sister of 
Prof. William Graham Sumner, and has two children : Walter Camp, 
Jr., born February 12th, 1891, and Janet Camp, born July 26th, 1897. 

Mr. Camp says : "The best traits for a young man to cultivate are 
fairness and pertinacity." By fairness he means the "strictest honesty, 
iiitegrity, and toleration," and by pertinacity he means the "consistent 
following up of whatever one undertakes." 



ROYAL M. BASSETT 

BASSETT, EOYAL M. of Derby, former State senator and 
prominent in the Connecticut business world, was bom in 
Derby, on October 23nd, 1838, and died there May 25th, 1905. 
He was a member of the Bassett family which has long been influ- 
ential in southern Connecticut and which traces its lineage back two 
hundred and fifty years to John Bassett of England, who came to New 
Haven about 1643, where he held the office of "town drummer." 
Several generations of Bassetts have been born in Derby, where they 
were prominently associated with the growth of the city. Mr. Bas- 
sett's father, Sheldon Bassett, held the office of town clerk and was a 
prominent Odd Fellow, having held the highest office in the State 
within the gift of that fraternity, and organized its first lodge in 
Derby. His mother was a niece of Commodore Isaac Hull. 

Young Mr. Bassett was the second of his father's seven children. 
After attending the public schools of his city he spent one year at 
the Brainard Academy at Haddam and two years at the Stiles and 
Truman Academy at New Haven. His father destined him for 
business pursuits and time has demonstrated the soundness of the 
paternal judgment. From youth and through his long career Mr. 
Bassett manifested commercial genius. He began his business career 
as secretary of the Birmingham Iron Foundry and on the death of his 
father he became its president. He had in addition extensive business 
interests in various parts of the country. He was one of the incor- 
porators of the Housatonic Water Company and of the Derby Gas 
Company. With business foresight of the wants of the Pacific rail- 
ways he built and operated large rolling mills at Laramie, Wyoming, 
and at Topeka, Kansas. He was connected with several railroad 
enterprises in the West and at one time he was president of the 
Utah Northern Eailroad. From 1870 he was a director of the 
Naugatuck Railroad Company. 

Mr. Bassett's political affiliation was with the Democratic party. 
In 1876 he was a State senator from the fifth district, and was for 



ROYAL M. BASSETT 433 

three years warden of the borough of Birmingham. He was interested 
in the cause of popular education and was for twenty years chairman 
of the Derby school board. He was a Freemason and a member of 
King Hiram Lodge of Derby. 

In 1858 Mr. Bassett married Frances J. Stratton, who died in 
1876. Of his three children only one, a son, Sheldon H. Bassett of 
St. Louis, is now living. The son has inherited the father's ability and 
by strict attention to business has built up a reputation of which his 
family is justly proud. 

The story of Mr. Bassett's life shows how, after receiving from 
his father a thorough education and a good start in business, he 
continued and increased the prosperity of his family and of those 
connected with him in business. His long career was one of constant 
success. Those who knew him best declare that Mr. Bassett was a 
public spirited citizen, a devoted father, a true friend, and an upright 
man. 



CHARLES ETHAN BILLINGS 

BILLINGS, CHAKLES ETHAN, a prominent manufacturer 
and inventor of Hartford, Connecticut, was born in Weathers- 
field, Windsor County, Vermont, December 5th, 1835. He is 
the son of Ethan Ferdinand Billings and Clarissa Marsh. The 
family originally came from England. Mr. Billings' first known 
ancestor was Kichard Billings, who was granted six acres of 
land in the division of the river in 1640, at Hartford. He signed a 
contract with Governor Webster to settle Hadley, Massachusetts, in 
1659, where he resided till his death. His only son, Samuel, lived 
in that part of Hadley called Hatfield, and died in 1678, leaving a 
son also called Samuel, who left four sons, all born in Hatfield. The 
last of these, Joseph Billings, born in 1700, was reported in the "His- 
tory of Northfield, Massachusetts," as a member of a company organ- 
ized to fight the Indians. He died in 1783, leaving a son, Joseph Bill- 
ings, Jr., who, with his uncles and other men to the number of seventy, 
petitioned Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire for a 
grant of land. In 1763, these men were granted, under George III., a 
royal charter of some 23,000 acres of land on Lake Champlain, to be 
incorporated into the town of Swanton. Eufus Billings, son of this 
Joseph Billings, Jr., was the grandfather of Charles E. Billings, and 
his son, Ethan Ferdinand Billings, already mentioned as Mr. Billings' 
father, was born in Windsor, Vermont, in 1807, and died in 1848, 

During boyhood Mr. Billings helped his father at his trade — that 
of a blacksmith — and attended the common schools of Windsor, It 
was his ambition to become a mechanical engineer, and he read all the 
books possible on that subject. The example of his mother was espe- 
cially strong on his character. The active work of his career com- 
menced when, as a very young man, he entered the factory of the Rob- 
bins & Lawrence Company of Windsor, Vermont. Here he remained, 
serving an apprenticeship of three years, and working as a journeyman 
for one year longer. From 1856 to 1861 he was employed as a die- 
sinker and tool maker at Colt's Armory, and from 1861 to 1865 as a 



t 




CHARLES ETHAN BILLINGS 437 

contractor on army revolvers with E. Eemington & Sous, Utica, New 
York. 

At the close of the Civil War he returned to Hartford, and was 
superintendent of the Weed Sewing Machine Company from 1865 to 
1868. In 1869, with Mr. C. M. Spencer, he organized the Billings & 
Spencer Company of Hartford, making a specialty of drop f(irgings, 
which art (for an art it certainly is) was then in its infancy, and has, 
through the energy and ability of Mr. Billings, been brought to its 
present high standing. The company is the leading concern of the 
kind in the United States, and its products are sold and favorably 
known all over the world. At the time the company was organized 
the process of drop forging was crude, and the products imperfect and 
unsatisfactory, and within narrow limits. Mr. Billings made many 
improvements and secured valuable patents on drop hammers, and at 
the present time the company has seventy-five drops in operation, and 
is turning out forgings so perfect that many of them require no fur- 
ther finishing. Forgings weighing from a fraction of an ounce to 
over one hundred pounds are made with equal precision and facility. 
Over three hundred men are employed at their shops located on 
Broad, Lawrence, and Russ Streets, Hartford. Mr. Billings also has 
a large farm and a summer residence at Dividend, Connecticut, and 
a fine water power, with shops for the manufacture of hammers and 
other tools. He has taken out a number of important patents, among 
them commutator bars for dynamo-electric machines, breech-loading 
firearm, drill chuck, shuttles for sewing machine, expanding bit, 
ratchet drill, wrenches, hand vise, knurling tool, sewing machines, and 
many others. 

Mr. Billings is well known in Masonic circles, having attained 
the 33rd degree, and is past grand commander of the Knights Tem- 
plar, a member of the American Protective Tariff League of New 
York, of the Home Market Club of Boston, and the Hartford Club. 
On October 2nd, 1895, he was electedpresidentof the American Society 
of Mechanical Engineers, and is now "Honorary Member in per- 
petuity," and a member of the "Honorable Council" of that society. 
In politics Mr. Billings is a Republican, having voted that ticket 
without change since his majority. He has served the city as council- 
man, and was alderman of the third ward for four years, and president 
of the fire commissioners for twelve years, always working for the best 



438 CHARLES ETHAN BILLINGS 

interests of the city. He finds his recreation out of doors in hunting 
and fishing and is a most enthusiastic sportsman. 

Mr. Billings was married to Frances M. Heywood of Windsor, 
Vermont, January 5th, 1857. She died in 1872. They had three chil- 
dren : Charles H., Fred C, and Harry E., only one of whom, Fred C, 
is living, and he is vice-president and superintendent of the Billings 
& Spencer Company. On September 9th, 1874, Mr. Billings married 
his present wife, who was Miss Evelina C. Holt of Hartford. They 
have two children : Mary E., wife of Wm. B. Green of JSTew York, and 
Lucius H. of Hartford. A gentleman of genial disposition, chari- 
table and honorable, Mr. Billings is honored and esteemed by his 
fellow citizens in the city where he has so deservedly prospered, and in 
which he occupies so high a position. 



WATSON JOHN MILLER 

MILLEE, COL. WATSON JOHN, president of the Derby Sil- 
ver Company and prominent in the military, political, and 
financial affairs of his state, was bom in Middletown, Con- 
necticut, November 23rd, 1849. His father was Watrous Ives Miller, a 
farmer and manufacturer, and a man endowed with all the qualities 
that make a successful business man. Through his father Colonel 
Miller is descended from Thomas Miller, who came from England to 
America in 1630, and from Governor Benjamin Miller. Lieutenant 
Ichabod Miller is another of his paternal ancestors. Colonel Miller's 
mother was Lucretia Prout Miller and on her side he is descended 
from Timothy Prout, who came from England to Boston in 1640, 
and from Gen. Joseph Spencer, Major General of the Connecticut 
troops. 

Passing his youth partly in the country and partly in the city. 
Colonel Miller had opportunity to develop the many interests that 
were his as a boy. He showed especial fondness for books, inventions, 
and all athletic sports. He spent a good deal of the time, outside of 
school hours, at work on the farm, and values the lessons of industry 
and the foundation of health which this work gave, beyond any 
other early influences upon his life. He read a great deal and in 
such a broad and general way that no favorite authors were cultivated, 
but he has always found ready reference histories and topical reading 
most helpful. He was educated at the Middletown High School, 
the Chase Institute, and the New Haven Business College, after 
which his father gave him the choice of an academic course at Yale 
or an opening in business and he chose the latter, beginning his work 
in Middletown in March, 1868, in the silver-plated ware business. 
In 1874 he went to New York where he was connected with the 
Webster Manufacturing Company for five years, at the expiration 
of which he was made secretary and treasurer and general manager 
of the Derby Silver Company, then being reorganized. He has 
since become president and general manager of the company with the 
entire control of the business. In connection with the silver ware 



440 WATSON JOHN MILLER 

business he has invented many designs and mechanical devices which 
he has had patented from time to time. He is also president of the 
South End Land Company, president of the Shelton Building and 
Loan Association, president of the Shelton Savings Bank and of the 
Eiverside Cemetery Association. He is a director in the Derby 
Building and Lumber Company, the Home Trust Company, the 
Derby and Shelton Board of Trade, in the organization of which 
he was one of the chief promoters, in the Shelton Public Library, 
in the Birmingham National Bank, and in the International Silver 
Company and has extensive real estate interests in Shelton. 

Notwithstanding his extensive business interests Colonel Miller 
has rendered many public services, military and political. He was 
aide-de-camp on Governor Coign's staff and on Governor McLean's 
staff and quartermaster general on Governor Chamberlain's staff. 
In politics he is a Eepublican and is now serving in the state legisla- 
ture, being elected from the town of Huntington in 1904 for 1905 and 
1906. He is deeply interested in the social problems of the day and 
has been particularly zealous in promoting a savings system for 
laboring men and in bringing about their uplift and welfare in many 
ways. 

Colonel Miller has been as active in church work and in fra- 
ternal orders as he has in business and public service. He is a 
member of the Episcopal Church and a vestryman in the Church of 
the Good Shepherd, Shelton. His fraternal connections are with 
Hiram Lodge No. 13 F. and A. M., Derby; the New Haven Com- 
mandery No. 2; the Lafayette Consistory S. P. of K. S., of Bridge- 
port, Connecticut; Pyramid Temple A. A. 0. M. S., Bridgeport, 
Connecticut; Derby Lodge No. 571, and the order of Elks. He is an 
ardent devotee of exercise and physical culture, walking from five 
to eight miles a day, and riding horseback whenever possible. In 
October, 1874, Colonel Miller was married to Susie Jane Waite, of 
Chicopee, Massachusetts. They have had no children. 

There are three things which Colonel Miller advocates for those 
who would succeed in life and he gives them in the order of their rela- 
tive importance from his point of view : "Absolute integrity, good judg- 
ment, and perseverance," and he adds, "a high standard of education, 
provided it does not make a man feel above the requirements of 
business no matter what they may be so long as they are honest." 




JOHN ROBERT MONTGOMERY 

ONTGOMERY, JOHN ROBERT, was born in Great Barring- 
ton, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, February 24th, 1845. 
The family is of Scotch origin, the American branch of it 
being founded at Salisbury, Connecticut, early in the history of this 
country. His father, John Milton Montgomery, was a farmer, and 
later a railroad man. 

He attended, whenever possible, the district schools of the county, 
and later the Drury Academy at North Adams, Massachusetts. 

At the age of sixteen Mr. Montgomery began the active work of 
life as an operative in a cotton mill at Great Barrington. Six 
years later his ability and faithfulness made him superintendent 
of this mill; and in four more years he was proprietor of a cotton 
mill at Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Since 1890 Mr. Montgomery 
has been president of the J. R. Montgomery Cotton Manufacturing 
Company of Windsor Locks. He is respected by his fellow citizens 
for his integrity and fidelity. He believes that "the way for a young 
man to succeed is by having some definite object in life and sticking 
to it." 

Mr. Montgomery is a Republican and has never voted any other 
ticket. He finds his recreation in out-of-door exercises and in reading, 
caring most for the books of fiction and poetry. He has been married 
twice, the first time on May 28th, 1867, to L. Maria Holden, and the 
second, on September 23rd, 1880, to Frances Wills Meeks. Four 
children have been born to him, none of whom are living. 



WILLIAM HENRY CHAPMAN 



CHAPMAN", WILLIAM HENRY, was born April 8th, 1819, 
in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, a little 
town that has produced several other distinguished men. He 
traces his ancestry from Robert Chapman, a native of Hull, England, 
who emigrated to America in 1635, and was one of the first settlers 
of Saybrook, Connecticut, and prominent in the subsequent affairs 
of that colony. Another ancestor. Sir John Chapman, was at one 
time Lord Mayor of London. 

Mr. Chapman's father was Daniel Shailer Chapman, a manufac- 
turer and farmer, a man conspicuous for his integrity, sobriety, and 
industry, the last quality being especially admirable because he suf- 
fered great disadvantage from the amputation of a limb. He married 
Ann Palmer, a woman who was remarkable for her calmness and 
dignity, and for the firmness of her religious convictions. She ruled 
her household by love, and it is the influence of her splendid character 
that Mr. Chapman considers more lasting and important than all the 
other influences of his early life combined. 

Like many of Connecticut's ablest sons, Mr. Chapman spent 
his youth in the country. As a boy be was normally healthy, but not 
vigorous. He was passionately fond of reading and inclined to seek 
seclusion to gratify this taste. The favorite book of his youth was 
"Good's Book of Nature." From the biographies of men of business, 
he gained the greatest help for his own needs and problems. He 
keenly enjoyed all historical literature. He received his education at 
the public and private schools of his native town and at the Bacon 
Academy, Colchester, Connecticut. 

In 1837 Mr. Chapman began his career as a business man, as 
clerk in a dry goods store in New London. His own preference 
dictated a mercantile career, and the approval of his parents rested 
upon his choice. He continued in the dry goods business in New Lon- 
don for eighteen years. Since then he has filled many important offices. 
For thirty-five years, from 1858, Mr. Chapman was president of the 



WILLIAM HENRY CHAPMAN 445 

Union Bank of New London (chartered 1792), and for thirty-eight 
years, from 1866, he has been president of the Savings Bank of New 
London, and is still in office. During the Civil War he was town treas- 
urer of New London. For three years he was president of the school 
board of that city. Since 1875 he has been a deacon in the Second 
Congregational Church of New London. He has been treasurer of 
many organizations. For nine years he was a director of the Mission- 
ary Society of Connecticut. Mr. Chapman has always been identified 
with the Republican party in politics. He is an active member of 
the Congregational Church. 

In September, 1843, Mr. Chapman was married to Sarah W. 
Hntchins of East Haddam. She died in June, 1851, leaving one 
child, Mary S. Chapman, born April, 1846, who is now a member of 
his family. Mr. Chapman's second marriage was in September, 1856, 
to Ellen Tyler of East Haddam, who is now living; and, with the 
daughter above mentioned, contributes greatly to the comfort and 
happiness of Mr. Chapman in his advanced age. 

Through his ecclesiastical, educational, and financial interests, 
Mr. Chapman has rendered threefold service to the city; not only in 
serrice, but in substantial generosity has he benefited New London. 
By a gift of two hundred thousand dollars he has founded the Manual 
Training and Industrial School of New London, an institution greatly 
needed, and one that will always be a great blessing and a practical 
benefit to the city. 

At the ripe age of eighty-five, Mr. Chapman still fills capably 
several important positions in the business and ecclesiastical world. 
He is esteemed as an able banker, a good citizen, and a Christian 
gentleman. He has given to New London two most worthy and valu- 
able gifts : a splendid institution and the example of a noble character. 
In his life, "Young America" may study the value of a clean, simple, 
industrious life, a life of unselfish service and loyalty to "things that 
are good." 



EDWIN KNOX MITCHELL 

MITCHELL, EDWm KNOX, M.A., D.D., professor of 
Graeeo-Eoman and Eastern Church History at the Hartford 
Theological Seminary, author, preacher, and educator, was 
born in Locke, Knox County, Ohio, December 23rd, 1853. His 
grandfather. Captain Sylvanus Mitchell, was a member of a colony 
organized in Granville, Massachusetts, which emigrated west and 
settled in Granville, Ohio. Captain Mitchell was an officer in the 
War of 1813 and was a descendant of Moses and Eleanor (Black) 
Mitchell who came from Glasgow, Scotland, and settled in Blandford, 
Massachusetts, in 1727. Edwin Mitchell is the son of Spencer 
Mitchell, a farmer and a man of marked integrity and good judg- 
ment, and of Harriet Newell (Howard) Mitchell, whom he calls 
"a woman of mark" and whose influence was the strongest and best 
exerted upon his life and character. 

Vigorous, athletic, and studious, Edwin Mitchell made the most 
of every opportunity in his youth. He lived on his father's large 
farm and learned to do all kinds of farm work, to operate all kinds of 
agricultural machinery, and became familiar with the life, habits, and 
care of horses, cattle, sheep and poultry. The farm was two hundred 
and fifty acres in extent and at seventeen years of age he undertook 
its management. He was eager to learn and was especially interested 
in mathematics and history. He prepared for college while managing 
the farm by attending the country school and by private study at home. 
He entered Marietta College and was graduated with the B.A. degree 
in 1878 and received his M.A. degree at the same institution in 
1881. He then entered Union Theological Seminary, New York, 
where he was graduated in 1884. This course was followed by two 
years of travel and study in Europe at the universities of Berlin, 
Giessen and Gottingen. He began work before completing his 
education by teaching Latin and mathematics in the Columbus, Ohio, 
High School from 1879-1881. 



EDWIN KNOX MITCHELL 447 

In 1886, after his return from Europe, Mr. Mitchell became 
pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, 
Florida, and remained in that pastorate until 1890, when he again 
went abroad for further study at the University of Berlin, going 
later to Rome and the Orient. He returned to America and in 1893 
was called to the chair of Grreco-Roman and Eastern Church His- 
tory in the Hartford Theological Seminary and he still holds that 
chair. In 1896 he received the degree of D.D. from his Alma Mater, 
Marietta College. In 1894 he published his "Introduction to the Life 
and Character of Jesus Christ According to St. Paul." He has been 
a frequent contributor to magazines and to "World's Best Literature," 
and is also the author of "Creeds and Canons." He is a trustee of 
Marietta College, a member of the American Historical Society, the 
American Oriental Society, the Society of Biblical Literature and 
Exegesis, the Hartford Arch^ologieal Society, the Connecticut His- 
torical Society, the Religious Education Association, the Hartford 
Federation of Churches, the Municipal Art Society, the Hartford 
Club, the Hartford and Saratoga Golf Clubs, the Hartford Charity 
Organization Society, and the Twentieth Century Club, of which 
he was president in 1903-4. In political views he is a Republican. 
Golf is his favorite recreation and he is an enthusiastic and con- 
stant devotee of that game. In January, 1887, he married Hetty 
Marquand Enos of Brooklyn, New York, and three children, all now 
living, have been born of this marriage. 

Edwin Knox Mitchell is a man of many active and fruitful 
interests, religious, public, educational, and charitable, as his mem- 
bership in so many and varied organizations shows. He has succeeded 
in many lines of work and is still so vigorous, enthusiastic, and am- 
bitious that greater things will undoubtedly come from his mind and 
pen. The secret of his manifold successes is revealed in his own words 
to others who would make their mark. He says: "Preserve physical 
vigor. Be not over-anxious about to-morrow. Do your work 
thoroughly and enthusiastically and promotion will come. Aim 
high, work hard, never be discouraged but always keep alert to new 
things. Gain and keep the confidence of a widening circle of 
friends. Be a Christian gentleman in all relations in life." 



ARTHUR LOUIS GOODRICH 

GOODRICH, GENERAL ARTHUR LOUIS, treasurer of th© 
Hartford Courant, is a lineal descendant of John Goodrich 
who was born near Bury St. Edmunds, County Suffolk, Eng- 
land, and, coming to this country November 10th, 1643, was one of 
the early settlers of the historic old town of Wethersfield, Connecti- 
cut. His grandfather, Ichabod Goodrich, a leading farmer and citi- 
zen of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, served in the Revolutionary War 
and was in the Continental Army under Washington at the siege of 
Yorktown. His father was James Goodrich of Hartford, a car- 
penter by trade, and his mother was Jennette Goodrich, whose wise 
and gentle precepts had deep influence on her sons. 

The general was born in Hartford, May 16th, 1849, and haa 
always lived in the Capitol City. From his youth he has been strong, 
robust, cheerful, with a keen appreciation of the good things of life, 
yet faithful to the uttermost detail in business. Asked as to the 
special lines of reading which he found most helpful in fitting him 
for his work in life, he replied with characteristic humor : " *Necea- 
sity' was the most helpful adjunct to several Sunday school libraries 
to which I had access." 

He studied in the common schools of Hartford and at the Hart- 
ford Public High School. His choice was a business career, so he 
accepted an opening in the store of Lee, Sisson & Company, whole- 
sale druggists of Hartford, predecessors of the present firm of T. 
Sisson & Company. Soon he had an opportunity to go with the Hart- 
ford Courant Company, in the capacity of clerk in the business 
department. That was March 13th, 1871. Here he applied so 
faithfully what he believed should be the first principle of a young 
man ambitious to succeed — to do what he is given to do— that he 
won advancement, and when in 1892 the position of treasurer became 
vacant, he was chosen to fill it. That was fourteen years ago and 
the great success during this period, financially as well as otherwise, 
of this the oldest newspaper by continuous publication in America, 



AETIIUR LODIS GOODKICH 449 

is due in no small measure to his zeal and fidelity and to his skill 
in business management. He, Charles Hopkins Clark, and Frank S. 
Carej comprise the officers of the company since the deaths of his 
brother, William H. Goodrich, Charles Dudley Warner, and Senator 
Joseph R. Hawley. In addition, the general is auditor of the Dime 
Savings Bank of Hartford. 

He began his career in the Connecticut National Guard as a 
private in Battery D, Light Artillery, First Infantry, in 1866, the 
year after the reorganization of the enrolled militia. In 1875 he was 
appointed sergeant major of the First Infantry, and captain and adju- 
tant November 21st, 1876. He was chosen major June 26th, 1878, 
after having been out of the service only three weeks. This position he 
held until December 2nd, 1882, when he resigned, but only to be 
called back again on December 13th. Two years later, on November 
20th, 1884, he was appointed lieutenant colonel. His zeal and 
enthusiasm did much for the regiment. When Henry B. Harrison 
was chosen governor in 1885, he appointed Lieutenant v. olonel Good- 
rich quartermaster general on his staff. At the end of the governor's 
term, in 1887, the general went on the retired list. Since then his 
advice has often been sought in matters of military legislation and 
in regimental and brigade affairs. For four years he was a member 
of the State Arsenal and Armory Commission. 

He holds membership in the Connecticut Society of the Sons of 
the American Revolution, in the Connecticut Historical Society, in 
the Lounsbury Staff Association, and in the Governor's Staff Asso- 
ciation of Connecticut and is historian of the last named organization. 
He if5 a staunch Republican in politics, but never has aspired to 
elective office. A Congregationalist by creed, he is a member of the 
First Cluurch of Christ in Hartford — the "Center" Church — and also 
ifi a member of the Congregational Club of Connecticut. 

He married Miss Emma C. Root of Westfield, Massachusetts, on 
September 11th, 1871. They have a most charming and hospitable 
home at No. 75 Farmington Avenue, 



JAMES SAMUEL ELTON 

ELTON, JAMES SAMUEL, manufacturer and banker of Water- 
bury, Connecticut, who was born there November 7th, 1838, 
is the son of John Prince Elton, a man as well known for his 
prominence in the industrial and banking aifairs of his generation 
as his son is in the same affairs of to-day. John Prince Elton was 
organizer and president of the Waterbury Brass Company, the Water- 
bury Bank and many other enterprises, incorporator of the Plank 
Eoad Company, and several times a member of the General Assembly. 
He was a man of generous sympathies, great cordiality, active public 
spirit, and a zealous churchman. His father, Dr. Samuel Elton, Mr. 
James S. Elton's grandfather, was a physician in Watertown for over 
sixty years. Tracing the Elton genealogy still further we come to 
John Elton, who came from Bristol, England, and was one of the 
early settlers of Middletown, Connecticut. Mr. Elton's mother was 
Olive Margaret Hall Elton and her moral and spiritual influence 
was one of the strongest ever brought to bear upon his character. 

Delicate health and lack of application combined to keep James S. 
Elton from being a thorough student in his youth, and his education, 
consisting of courses at Everest's school at Hamden and Russell's 
Military Academy at New Haven, terminated when he was sixteen 
years old. After leaving school he took the first position open to 
him, which was in the packing department of the American Pin 
Company in Waterbury. After a brief apprenticeship in that com- 
pany he became connected with the Waterbury Brass Company, of 
which his father was president. His fathers death in 1864 im- 
pressed him with the serious importance of following a business 
career, and he began to strive, as his father had striven, to win 
success in business. His rise was rapid and in 1874 he became presi- 
dent of the Waterbury Brass Company, and still holds that office 
and the great responsibility it entails. 

As president of the Waterbury National Bank Mr. Elton has 
taken an interest in banking second only to his interest in manu- 






^.^''Z'^.^.^^^'^i^ 




JAMES SAMUEL ELTON 453 

facturing. He is also a director in the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Railroad, in the American Brass Company, the Coe Brass 
Manufacturing Company, the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing 
Company, the New England Watch Company, the Oakville Company, 
and in the St. Margaret's Diocesan School. He is a very generous 
and active member of the Episcopal Church, and in his church life 
as well as in business he follows his father's example in letter and 
spirit. He is an officer in St. John's Church and the managing 
trustee of the Hall "Church Home" fund and a benevolent and sym- 
pathetic helper of all good causes. He is a director of the Water- 
bury Hospital and the Silas Bronson Library in addition to his other 
positions. In politics he is a Republican, and served his party as 
State senator in 1882-1883. 

Socially Mr. Elton is a member of the Watorhury Club, of which 
he was made president in 1893 and served two years, lie has no 
fraternal or Masonic ties. His most enjoyable out-of-door n-creation 
is? driving. In 1863, at the beginning of his business career, Mr. VAion 
married Charlotte Augusta Steele, who died in 1899. One son, John 
Prince, survives her and he is now treasurer of the American Brass 
Company, the Waterbury Brass Company, and an alumnus of Trinity 
College, also ex-raayor of Waterbury. 

Although Mr. Elton modestly says that his life has been too 
uneventful to attract attention, his career has been full of achieve- 
ment, and his conduct as a business man, as a citizen, and as a 
Christian is a fruitful example to others. Though he admits that 
there have been no definite failures in his life he feels that he has 
not accomplished as much as he ought to have done. He says with 
wisdom born of experience: "Spend no time seeking positions. Let 
the office seek you. All I ever had came to me unsought." But 
when he adds, "and some of them have been poorlv filled," he meets 
with a contradiction as hearty as it is general, for he holds many 
important positions with recognized capability and merit. 



FRANK LEWIS BIGELOW 

BTGELOW, FRANK LEWIS, president of The Bigelow Com- 
pany of New Haven, Connecticut, was born in New Haren, 
Connecticut, September 21st, 1863, His father, Hobart B. 
Bigelow, born in North Haven, Connecticut, May 16th, 1834, died 
in New Haven, Connecticut, October 12th, 1891, was instructed 
in the public schools and the academy of his native town and m 
1851 removed to New Haven where he was apprenticed to the trade 
of a machinist in the shops of Ives & Smith. His skill and industry 
passed him rapidly from apprentice to journeyman and to foreman 
of the shop of which he eventually became proprietor. When the 
Civil War broke out in 1861, he, in company with Henry Bushnell^ 
the inventor, took a contract for supplying the gun parts for 300,000; 
Springfield rifles, on which contract he employed a force of 200 men 
for three years. He removed his works to Grapevine Point in 1867^ 
in order to have additional facilities to carry on his increased; 
business, which became known as The Bigelow Company, foundeit 
and manufacturers of boilers and machinery. The Common Council' 
of New Haven appointed him a member of the Board of Supervisors 
in 1872, and the mayor of New Haven appointed him a member of the 
board of Fire Commissioners in 1874. The next year he was a 
representative in the State Legislature and in 1878 he was elected 
by the Republican party mayor of New Haven and in 1880 governor 
of the State of Connecticut. As mayor he planned and carried! 
out the extensive park system of the city of New Haven and the^ 
much needed harbor improvements. Hobart B. Bigelow married! 
Eleanor, daughter of Philo and Eleanor (Swift) Lewis of New Haven,, 
and their son, Frank Lewis Bigelow, was brought up in the cit| 
of New Haven, where he was prepared for college at the Hopkirjg 
Grammar School. 

He was graduated at the Sheflfield Scientific School, Yale Univeir- 
sity, Ph.B., 1881, and on his graduation he served as an aide-de-camp 
on the staff of Governor Bigelow. He entered the engine department 



FRANK LEWIS BIGELOW 455 

of the H. B. Bigelow Works as an apprentice in 1881. This course 
was recommended by his father and was also his own choice. He 
served a two years' apprenticeship, when he was made secretary of 
the Bigelow Company, serving as such 1883-91, On the death of 
his father in 1891 he was elected president of the corporation. He 
is also a director in the Merchants' National Bank of New Haven. 
His club aflfiliations extend to the University Club of New York 
City and the Graduates, Quinnipiack, and Country clubs of New 
Haven. He is also a member of the Berzelius Society of the Shef- 
field Scientific School of Yale University. His recreation in his 
younger days was found in riding and driving horses, but on the 
introduction of golf and automobiling he took up both these forms of 
outdoor sport. His political home is in the Republican party and his 
church home with the Congregational denomination. 



WILLIAM PERRY CURTISS 

CURTISS, WILLIAM PERRY, banker, was born in Branford, 
New Haven County, Connecticut, September 11th, 1871. His 
father was Joseph Curtiss, a son of Cyrenius and Christia 
(Beardsley) Curtiss and a descendant from William Curtiss who came 
from Nazing, England, to Stratford, Connecticut Colony, in the early 
part of the seventeenth century. Joseph Curtiss was a carpenter and 
he married Jane, daughter of Archibald and Mary (Frisbie) Tyler 
of Branford. 

When sixteen years of age William Perry Cmiiss left school 
to take a position as clerk and office boy in the National Tradesman's 
Bank of New Haven, beginning his banking experience in October, 
1887, the opportunity coming to him apparently by chance. Here his 
real education began, and hard grinding work day after day, with 
but little encouragement and small chance of promotion, taught him 
fortitude and perseverance under adverse conditions. His best help 
at this time came from his daily contact with business men. For ten 
years his position was that of a clerk and in January, 1897, he was 
sent to the bookkeeper's desk, where he remained for five years. In 
January, 1902, he became assistant to the cashier and remained in 
that position up to April, 1903, when he accepted the position of 
vice-president and treasurer of the New Haven Trust Company, after, 
sixteen years of service with one institution, 

Mr. Curtiss has served the State of Connecticut as a citizen sol- 
dier since 1894, when he enlisted in Company F, Second Connecticut 
Militia, familiarly known as the New Haven Grays. He received 
promotion to second lieutenant in November, 1898; to first lieutenant 
in 1901, and was retired after a continuous service of nine years in 
June. 1903. Mr. Curtiss was still unmarried in 1906. 



JACOB LYMAN GREENE 

(^ REENE, JACOB LYMAN, was born on the ninth day of Au- 
"ir gust, A.D., 1837, in the town of Wateri'ord and the State of 
Maine. His parents, Captain Jacob Holt Greene and Sirah 
Walker Frye, were both of noble lineage, lor in their veins pulsed the 
blood of the Greenes, the Fryes, the Holts, the Abbots, the Poors, the 
Trumbulls, the Kilburns, and the Gordons, some of whom are more or 
less distinguished for various virtues and gallant services in the 
French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. 

The boyhood and youth of this sturdy, earnest lad, fond of his 
books as well as of manly sports, was passed, until twenty years of age, 
on his father's farm amid the granite hills and pastoral slopes of his 
native state. The influence of both parents was strong on his intel- 
lectual and his spiritual life. In later years he spoke of his father as 
"one of the unheralded heroes, possessing great intelligence, high- 
mindedness, and dauntless courage." 

Young Greene took advantage of every opportunity for the cul- 
tivation of his mind. He was a great reader, history and biography 
being his favorite studies. Speaking of his early education, he said: 
"I had to work it out." Later he enjoyed the advantages of special 
courses of study at the University of Michigan, and he engaged in 
the practice of law in that state just before the Civil War broke out. 
In August, 1801. he entered the service of his country as a volunteer 
in the Seventh Michigan Infantry, rising rapidly from a private to 
captain, major, and brevet lieutenant-colonel. 

Colonel Greene's brevet was given for "distinguished gallantry 
at the battle of Trevellyan Station, and for mr>ritorious and faithful 
services during the war." He was a prisoner of war at Libby Prison 
in Richmond, Virginia; in ]\lacon, Georgia; in Charleston, South 
Carolina, and in Columbia, South Carolina. During the last part of 
his military career he was intimately associated with General Custer, 
acting as his adjutant-general and chicf-of-staff. He was mustered 
out of service and honorably discharged in March, ISHG. Colonel 
Greene's brilliant army record has become a part of the history of the 
United States. 



460 JACOB LYMAN GREENE 

His experience in life insurance began in 1866 at Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts, in connection with the Berkshire Life Insurance 
Company. In 1370 he became associated with the Connecticut 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, and took up his residence in Hart- 
ford. In 1871 he was appointed secretary, and in 1878 was elected 
president. Under the wise counsel and masterly administration of 
Colonel Greene the company reached the highest state of beneficent 
efficiency and unquestioned strength, and it stands to-day "sui 
generis" among insurance companies of the country. President 
Greene's last word in his message to the policy holders in January, 
1905, was: "How truly and steadfastly the Connecticut Mutual has 
held to its ideals, and in what unequaled measure it has realized 
for its members and for their beneficiaries their best result, is told, 
through its history, and each recurring year witnesses it anew." Bj 
a few strokes of the pen President Greene makes the whole history of 
the company strikingly luminous. 

As a public speaker, and as a writer, he ranked high. He was 
one of the orators of the day at the Grant Memorial exercises in 
Hartford, and delivered a most eloquent address. His writings bore 
the stamp of an original mind, permeated by sound principles and 
lofty ideals. What he said carried with it weight, and never failed 
to make serious impression upon thoughtful readers. Of him it 
could be said that he could "lend ardor to virtue, and confidence to 
truth." 

In 1900 he issued an able work on "Gen. Wm. B. Franklin and the 
battle of Fredericksburg," and in 1903 an "In Memoriam of General 
Franklin." He also published several pamphlets, business and pro- 
fessional, notably: "Bimetallism or the Double Standard," "Our 
Currency Problems," "What is Sound Currency," and "The Silver 
Question." When the latter pamphlet came from the press it 
aroused the bitterest ire of the so-called Silverites. One of them, a. 
policy holder in the Connecticut Mutual, violently attacked Colonel 
Greene for daring to condemn what some of his policy holders be- 
lieved in and profited by, whereupon the fiery valor of the ColoneFft 
heart flamed out, and he replied thus: "If telling the truth to. 
our policy holders about their own business alienates my friends, I 
must bear the grief; if men must wear muzzles because they have 
been charged with large financial or other responsibilities, then, this 
is not the country my fathers fought to found, and which I fought 



JACOB LYMAN GREENE 461 

to keep whole, and for which / will again fight to make free from 
mob rule and to cleanse of cowards." In these brave words we 
discover an echo of Lexington and Concord, Valley Forge and Gettys- 
burg. We witness again the brilliant cavalryman in the saddle, see 
the charging of squadrons and hear the rattle of musketry. 

Colonel Greene's personality was of singular power. No person 
who came in contact with it failed to feel its peculiar force. His 
character called forth character in the lives of others. Those who 
came to him as carping critics, invariably departed admiring friends. 
To know him was to love him, and those who knew him best, loved 
him most. His purse was ever open to almsgiving and his heart 
tender to those who needed relief. 

In 1897 Yale University bestowed on him the degree of A.M., and 
in 1904 Trinity College followed with an LL.D. He was a member of 
the D. K. E. Fraternity and also of the Century, Hartford, Country, 
and the Hartford Golf clubs. He was the leading layman in Trinity 
Episcopal Church, and served as vestryman and warden for many 
years. Colonel Greene took up his daily tasks with unwearied dili- 
gence, and carried them with undisturbed resolution, without stum- 
bling and without stain, to the last day of his life. 

Of his religion, it may be briefly said, that it was the main object 
of his life. It brooded over him like the canopy of heaven; without 
it his life seemed to possess nothing, but with it the potentiality of 
becoming an heir of the kingdom of heaven. For years he carried 
in his vest pocket a well worn copy of the Psalter, and from that 
source, according to his own statement, he drew daily refreshment and 
strength. 

Colonel Greene died at his home in Hartford on the twenty-ninth 
day of March, nineteen hundred and five. His last moments were 
like those of another great and good man, of whom it is written: 
**After a short conflict betwixt nature and death, a quiet sigh put 
a period to his last breath, and so he fell asleep." 

In the company of the noble dead he now securely stands, fit type 
of the brilliant soldier, masterful underwriter, ripe scholar, faithful 
friend, loyal citizen, and, more than all, man of God. 

Colonel Greene left a widow, Caroline S. Greene; one daughter, 
Mrs. H. S. Richards of Buffalo, New York, and one son, Jacob 
Humphrey Greene, who is an assistant secretary of the Connecticut 
Mutual Life Insurance Company. 



JOHN METCALF TAYLOR 

TAYLOR, JOHN METCALF, president of the Connecticut 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, was born of 
New England parentage, at Cortland, Cortland County, New 
York, February 18th, 1845. His father, Charles Culver Taylor, was 
a fanner, a vigorous, strong man, and was honored by offices in his 
town as trustee of the Cortland Academy, treasurer and trustee 
of the State Normal School, president of the board of village trustees, 
and by other offices. He was a man of integrity, generosity, courtesy, 
and kindness. Mr. Taylor's mother, Maria Jane Gifford, died when 
he was an infant, and the development of his character was chiefly 
due to the care and counsel of a good woman who had charge of 
him in his earlier years, strengthened as it was by his zeal in the 
tasks of the common school, by his love of out-of-door sports and 
recreations; and, later, broadened and deepened by listening to the 
pleas and arguments of distinguished counsel at the bar, and to 
courses of lectures, in 1858-1860, by Henry Ward Boechcr, Ceorge 
William Curtis, Thomas Starr King, Wendell Phillips, Samuel J. 
May, E. H. Chapin, Lydia Maria Child, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and 
to other gifted authors and lecturers of that period. 

His earliest ancestor in this country was Stephen Goodyear of 
London, England, — 1638; who was one of the founders of New 
Haven, Connecticut, a magistrate, commissioner for the United 
Colonies, and deputy governor of New Haven Colony. Another, John 
Taylor of England, was one of the settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, 
and of Hadley, Massachusetts. 

His sound, healthy physical development is to be attributed in 
many ways to his early years on the farm, with its varied demands on 
body and mind and its excellent school of discipline, observation, and 
useful experience. In boyhood the study of the Bible and the reading 
of history and biography were potent factors in strenglh'^ning his firm 
and serious grasp of the basic principles for an honest, sturdy, and 
forceful life. Later, the Greek, Latin, and l''n2r!i>h classics, and 
standard fiction, served to mold his speech and writing into a correct 



JOHN METCALF TAYLOR 465 

and admirable style of expression, while his training in his profession 
of the law, his dih'gonce in I'ollowing eourl; decisions and current 
legislation, broadened his mastery of principles and detciils, and 
lodged in a splendid memory a reserve and a strength which have 
manifested themselves in his life work; and have made him an 
acknowledged authority on insurance law, well known in the insurance, 
as well as in the legal profession. His education, begun in the common 
and academic schools, was carried on through his course at Wil- 
liams College, from which he was graduated with the degree of B.A. 
in 1867; and his Alma Mater again honored him by conferring upon 
him the degree of M.A. in 1888. 

Mr. Taylor was married on the fourth day of October, 1871, to 
Edith Emerson, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. One child was born to 
them, Emerson Gifford Taylor, who is now a member of the Yale 
University Faculty. 

John M. Taylor was admitted to the Bar and began the practice of 
law in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in June, 1870, and he has occupied 
many positions of honor and trust in that community. He was 
influenced to his choice of a profession by his own personal leaning 
that way, and has always taken pleasure in pursuing his study of the 
law, especially in those branches relating to and connected with in- 
surance. At Pittsfield he held, at various times, the office of town 
clerk, clerk of the District Court, and clerk of St. Stephen's parish. 

In 1872 Mr. Taylor went to Hartford, Connecticut, as the assist- 
ant secretary of The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. 
In 1878 he became secretary; in 1884, vice-president, and in 1905, 
upon the death of his valued friend and associate, the late Colonel 
Greene, he became president of the company. Among other offices 
held by him is that .of trustee of the Connecticut Trust & Safe 
Deposit Company since 1884; director of the Phoenix National Bank; 
director of the New York Dock Company ; vice-president and president 
of the Loomis Institute from 1901; and trustee and secretary of the 
Bishop's Fund of the diocese of Connecticut. He has been a diligent 
student of early Colonial history, and of the history of the era 
of the Civil War; and out of his studies have grown the writing 
and publication by him of his books entitled "Roger Ludlow, the 
Colonial Law-maker," in 1900, and his "Maximilian and Carlotta, a 
Story of Imperialism," in 1894. These books have taken high rank 
among the standard authorities. 

Mr. Taylor is a member of the American Historical Association; 



466 JOHN METCALF TAYLOR 

the Connecticut Historical Society; the Connecticut Civil Service 
Reform Association; the Society of Colonial Wars; Berkshire Coni- 
mandery of Knights Templar. He has always been identified with 
the Republican party, but is not slow to express his mind or take 
action when it is necessary to make a choice of men or measures 
in the interests of the general good. 

He has been a president, and is now a director of the Hartford 
Golf Club, and continues to take an active interest in its affairs, 
and to make very considerable use of the athletic advantages of the 
club. He enjoys hunting and fishing; is an excellent shot and fly 
fisherman ; and often takes long walks in the woods and fields, but is 
particularly fond of the game of golf. 

He has always been an attendant of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church and a member of Christ Church in Hartford for many years, 
which has called upon him to serve as vestryman and on its various 
committees from time to time. He has always been kindly and sym- 
pathetic with young people and has truly said : "Successful men have 
no failures to explain. Unsuccessful men do not always attribute 
their failures to recognized causes. In one sense all men have suc- 
ceeded, and in another all have failed to do what they hoped to do 
in life; and I cannot see how a study of failures can be helpful to 
young people. A book might be written on the broad question of 
what will contribute most to the strengthening of sound ideals and 
will most help young people to obtain true success." 

He feels that as to principles: "An abiding religious belief and 
faith; a clear conscience; honor in all things; charity towards all 
men; right living in the sight of God and man; loyalty to one's 
country; knowledge of its origin and development, its theories and 
principles, and the sacrifices that have been made for them, should 
be chief factors in the growth of young people." 

As to methods : "They should aim high ; all ideals are not attain- 
able, but most of them are, through study, observation, and persist- 
ence. Early choice should be made of a profession, business, or 
occupation, and a determination to succeed in it despite all obstacles." 

As to habits: "Too great importance cannot be given by young 
people to a life of temperance, purity in act, thought, and speech, 
courtesy at home and abroad, punctuality and thoroughness every day 
in the week, with time for exercise and recreation." 

Mr. Taylor himself has truly followed the course which he has 
thus marked out for others. 




HERBERT HUMPHREY WHITE 

HITE, HERBERT HUMPHREY, secretary and director 
of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of 
Hartford, treasurer and trustee of the Hartford School of 
Religious Pedagogy and a man of wide experience in banking and in 
public service, was born in Hartford, July 3rd, 1858, the son of 
Francis A. White, a builder, and Cornelia Humphrey White. His 
father was a very sociable and musical man who possessed keen, 
mathematical faculties and his mother was a woman of great moral 
force and spiritual depth. Going further back in the study of Mr. 
White's antecedents it is found that he is descended from John White 
who came from England to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1639, and was 
an incorporator of Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1643; from John 
Haynes who came from England in 1635; George Colton, a pioneer 
settler of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; George Wyllis, an early 
emigrant from Essex County, England, and from Peter Brown who 
came to Plymouth in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Two of these, 
Haynes and Wyllis, were the first and third governors of Connecti- 
cut, and another early ancestor, Jonathan White, was a lieutenant 
colonel in the French and Indian War and fought at Lake George. 
Another, Benjamin Colton, was the first pastor of the West Hart- 
ford Congregational Church and held that pastorate forty-five years. 
Until Herbert White was twelve years old he was very frail and 
he did not have hard work to do in early boyhood, as did so many 
of his contemporaries. He was fond of study and was disappointed 
because he could not take a college course. He attended the public 
schools and took the classical course at the Hartford Public High 
School, after leaving which he studied political economy, constitu- 
tional historv' and astronomy at home. He desired to become engaged 
in financial work and in 1874 he entered the employ of the Hartford 
Trust Company, where he remained for four years, at the end of 
which he entered the Phoenix National Bank, where he was assist- 
amt cashier for nine vears. 



468 HERBERT HDMPHREY WHITE 

In 1899 Mr. White became secretary and director of the Connecti- 
cut Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the largest, most prosper- 
ous and reputable life insurance companies in the world. March 23i'd, 
1906, the office of treasurer was created by the company to which he 
was promoted, at the same time resigning the office of secretary. He 
is also a director of the Hartford Insane Retreat, treasurer and 
member of the advisory board of the Connecticut Institute for the 
Blind, treasurer and trustee of the Hartford School of Religious 
Pedagogy and a member of the West Middle District School Com- 
mittee. In politics he is and always has been a Republican, and he 
was a member of the common council for six years during two of 
which years he was an alderman and one year the president of the 
Board of Councilmen. He is secretary, treasurer and director of 
the Hartford Golf Club Company, a member of the Twentieth 
Century Club, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Sons of the 
American Revolution, and the Hartford Club. He was president of 
the Colonial Club before its consolidation with the Hartford Club. 
In religious conviction he is a Baptist. As a boy, his most congenial 
outdoor exercise was rowing, which did much to build up his con- 
stitution. Tennis and golf have been his favorite recreations in 
mature life. Mrs. White was Ella F. Kinne, whom he married in 
1886 and by whom he has had one child, a daughter. 

The dominating purpose and impulse of Mr. White's life ha? been 
to do the duty made clear to him to do, without regard to conse- 
quences, and he considers such an impulse the best "investment" one 
can have. He gives an admirable list of the essentials of true success 
in life which he considers to be : "A full and abiding trust in God, 
a familiar knowledge of the Bible, unshirking performance of duty, 
doing for others rather than seeking to get from others, the exercise 
of self-control, proper care of the body, and abstinence from unneces- 
sary stimulants." 



ALFRED EMIL HAMMER 

HAMMER, ALFRED EMIL, was born in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, March 8th, 1858. His parents were Danes; the 'father 
emigrated from Denmark and settled in America in 1843, 
and his mother was born of Danish parents, who came to this country 
in 1832. His father, Thorvald Frederick Hammer — an inventor and 
mechanical engineer — was a man of industry and perseverance, with 
a nature hating show and shams, and cherishing an intense love for 
America and its institutions. He served as a member of the board 
of education of Branford for a number of years. Mr. Hammer's 
ancestors, many of them, were men of note in the fields of art and 
science. 

In childhood Alfred Hammer was a healthy boy, living after his 
seventh year in the country, where his great love for nature — an 
ancestral trait — was developed, and where he had opportunity to in- 
dulge in his favorite sports of fishing, hunting, and trapping. Al- 
though he had his part in the regular routine work of the farm, he 
found time for reading, the books he cared most for in boyhood being 
tales of Colonial life in America, and later Emerson's Essays, 
Beecher's Sermons, Auerbach's Novels, and scientific works, includ- 
ing those of Darwin and Huxley. His early education was acquired 
in the Branford and New Haven high schools, and Russell's Military 
Academy of New Haven. 

Jlr. Hammer decided to follow his father's profession, and began 
fitting himself for a metallurgist by three years' study under a care- 
ful teacher. He began the real work of life in the chemical laboratory 
of the Malleable Iron Fittings Company of Branford, and is, at 
present, manager and treasurer of this business. Mr. Hammer is 
a trustee of the James Blackston Memorial Library Association, 
director of the Second National Bank of New Haven, trustee and 
corporator of the Connecticut Savings Bank, and trustee and cor- 
porator of the Branford Savings Bank. 

In politics he is a Republican, and was a member of the House 
cf Representatives of Connecticut for 1889, and is, at present, serving 



472 ALFRED EMIL HAMMER 

as senator for the 12th district of his state. He is a member of 
the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and of the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers. Mr. Hammer is distinctly an out- 
of-door man, fond of athletic sports, and of fishing, botanizing, and 
walking. He attends the Presbyterian Church. 

In 1887 he was married to Cornelia Hannah Foster (now de- 
ceased), and has four children. In 1905 he was married to Edith 
Rosamond Swan, daughter of Dr. Charles W. Swan of Brookline, 
Massachusetts, 

Mr. Hammer believes that he owes his success in life to private 
study, home and school influences. Speeches by great men had a 
distinct effect on his character also, and inspired him to strike out 
boldly for himself and fellow men. He is of the opinion that young 
men will follow successful leaders more quickly than good advice; 
and that those who wish to influence them most must turn their hero 
worship in the right direction. He would say to young men that 
"the culture of the finer sides of a man's nature is to be gained by 
reading great books, and by the study of the lives and words of men 
who have ideals." 



CHARLES WHITTLESEY PICKETT 

PICKETT, CHARLES WHITTLESEY, editor of the New 
Haven Leader, is the son of John Mason Pickett and Elizabeth 
L. Cogsv^ell, and is a direct descendant of Archbishop Whittle- 
gey of Canterbury, England; of John Whittlesey, who came over and 
eettled in Saybrook in 1632, and of John Cogswell, who, on arriving 
from England, settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1619, a year 
before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. Both pioneers played 
important parts in the forming of the colonies. When the War for 
Independence came, William Cogswell held a major's commission in 
General Washington's army. 

Mr. Pickett was born in Waterbury, on June 13th, 1857. His 
father was an honest, energetic, public-spirited farmer of high repute 
in the communities in which he lived. He served as selectman and 
while living in Sherman was three times representative to the General 
Assembly from that town. His wife did much by teaching and by 
example to develop the intellectual, moral, and spiritual life of their 
son. He is to be counted among the many who learned as a boy what 
work is, and learned in the stern school of agriculture. Early and 
late, he was kept busy. The farm in Sherman was fertile, but the 
remoteness of the location from busy centers did much to rob it of its 
attractiveness in the eyes of the youth as he grew older. What he may 
have lost by not being in actual contact with the bustling world in 
his early days, he appears to have made up in his reading of Shake- 
speare, Bunyan, and other masters, acquiring a fund of knowledge 
of human nature invaluable to him in later life. He craved more 
in book knowledge, and in experience also, than his humble means 
could afford him, so he set to work to provide the means. 

In June, 1892, he could look back over a very successful course 
through Waramaug Academy and the Yale Law School. But the 
law was not to be his profession ; it was to be an aid in the field of 
Journalism. Having had experience as a reporter on the New Haven 
Palladium, he came to feel more and more the enjoyment of daily 



474 CHARLES WHITTLESEY PICKETT 

contact with men of affairs and to appreciate that in that contact 
was the greatest uplift for him. So he chose to continue in newspaper 
work. Just as he was graduating from the law school, and when 
he had heeu discharging reportorial duties only six years, an oppor- 
tunity opened for him to take the position he holds to-day, the 
editorship of the Leader, an evening paper then just starting upon 
its successful career, the only stalwart Republicr<n paper in the city. 
Mr. Pickett has made a paper that pleased a rapidly increasing con- 
stituency, and his pungent, lucid editorials are widely copied. A 
special feature of his work is his close observation of the sessions of 
the General Assembly. 

Colonel Pickett served a term of five years in the Second Infantry, 
C. N". G., and was aide-de-camp with rank of colonel on the staff of 
Governor Lorrin A. Cooke, 1897-1899. He is a Free Mason, an Elk, 
and a member of the Royal Arcanum, the Union League, the Young 
Men's Republican Club, and of the Connecticut Society of the Sons 
of the American Revolution. In religion he is a Congregationalist. 
While his duties are too exacting to allow him much time to himself, 
he gets into the country when he can and he is fond of the simple 
life there. 

His wife, Marie P. Sperry of New Haven, whom he married 
October 8th, 1879, and whose writings over the nom de plume of 
"Rhea" are well remembered, died suddenly while addressing an 
audience in South Hampton, Connecticut, November 10th, 1904. He 
has one son, Walter M. His home is at No. 23 Lynwood Place, New 
Haven. 



CHARLES HENRY LEEDS 

1EEDS, CHARLES HENRY, retired manufacturer, ex-mayor, 
t and a leading citizen of Stamford, Connecticut, was born in 
New York City, January 9th, 1834, the son of Samuel and 
Mary Warren Mellen Leeds. Through his father he is a descendant, 
in the eighth generation, of Richard Leeds, who emigrated from Great 
Yarmouth, England, in 1637, and settled in Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts. His mother was a granddaughter of Lieut. Col. James Mel- 
len, a Revolutionary officer. Another of his ancestors was Solomon 
Stoddard, the divine, who was graduated from Harvard in 1662, and 
still another was Col. Israel Williams, who participated in the French 
and Indian Wars 

Charles Henry Leeds fitted for college at Phillips Academy, 
Andover, Massachusetts, and was graduated from Yale University in 
1854, After leaving college he engaged in the business of manufac- 
turing straw goods in New York and continued at this business for 
thirty years. In 1883 he moved to Stamford, Connecticut, which has 
been his home ever since. At the time of his removal to Stamford 
he gave up the straw goods business and for the next four years he was 
secretary of the Stationers' Board of Trade of New York City. Since 
1888 he has not been actively engaged in business, but he has been 
one of Stamford's busiest and most useful citizens. In 1893 he was 
elected warden of the borough and during his term of service Stam- 
ford was incorporated as a city and he was made its first mayor in 
1894. He has always been a loyal and leading Republican in 
political allegiance. In 1897 he was appointed a deputy collector of 
the United States Custom Service of the Fairfield district in charge 
of the sub-port of Stamford and he still fills that office. Mr. Leeds 
is a trustee and treasurer of the Stamford Presbyterian Society and 
treasurer and manager of the Children's Home of Stamford. He 
has been secretary, was for twelve years treasurer, and is now a 
director of the Stamford Yacht Club and he was for a number of 
years treasurer and a governor of the Stamford Suburban Club. He 



476 CHARLES HENRY LEEDS 

has been very active in the organization and promotion of the Stam- 
ford Hospital, of which he is a director and one of the executive 
committee. 

On the twenty-first of December, 1865, Mr. Leeds married Sarah 
Perley Lambert, daughter of William G. Lambert of New York City. 
She is descended on her father's side, in the seventh generation, from 
Francis Lambert, who, with several others, came from Eowley, Eng- 
land, under the leadership of the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, and founded 
the town of Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1639. Mr. and Mrs. Leeds 
have had seven children, of whom six, four sons and two daughters^ 
are now living. All the sons are graduates of Yale University. 



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CHARLES ELLIOTT MITCHELL 

ITCHELL, CHAELES ELLIOTT, lawyer, was born in the 
town of Bristol, Hartford County, Connecticut, May 11th, 
1837. On his mother's side Mr. Mitchell traces his ancestry 
to Thomas Hooker, the famous Puritan preacher popularly regarded 
as the founder of Connecticut. Ira Hooker, Mr. Mitchell's maternal 
grandfather, a farmer and manufacturer of Bristol, Connecticut, was 
several times a member of the legislature. On his father's side Mr. 
Mitchell is descended from William Mitchell, who came from Scot- 
land and settled in Bristol shortly before the Revolution. His 
paternal grandfather was George Mitchell, a man of probity and 
prominence, a State senator, and a leading manufacturer. Mr. 
Mitchell's father was George H. Mitchell, a merchant and the post- 
master of Bristol. His mother was Lurene Hooker Mitchell, and her 
influence, which was very strong on his intellectual life, was most 
lasting and helpful. To her encouragement he ascribes very largely 
the success that has been his. 

Living in a village and endowed with vigorous health, Mr. 
Mitchell's youthful days were filled with wholesome industry. He 
had a decided penchant for legal studies, and a native mechanical 
taste that led to an intimate acquaintance with the manufacturing 
industries of his town. He was fond of gymnastics, but above all he 
was fond of good literature. Macaulay's history and essays, biogra- 
phies of statesmen, other English essays and poetry gave him the 
greatest delight. Like so many other successful men, he combined 
work and schooling, for he assisted his father in the post office while 
he was preparing for college, studying in the office and reciting 
sometimes to the principal of the high school, and at other times 
to one of the clergymen of the place. He supplemented this frag- 
mentary preparation with a year at Williston Seminary. He then 
entered Brown University and received his degree in 1861. For a 
time he served acceptably as principal of the Bristol High School, and 
later on he entered the Albany Law School, from which he was 



480 CHARLES ELLIOTT MITCHELL 

graduated in 1864 with the degree of LL.B. From his early boyhood 
Mr. Mitchell has had a strong natural preference for the study and 
practice of law, and this purpose so early formed and so persistently 
followed and fostered has insured his success at the Bar. He began as 
a general practitioner of law in New Britain, but gradually, by a 
process of natural selection rather than by conscious choice, he 
inclined to making a specialty of patent law. His practice soon 
became extensive in patent and trademark cases, giving him a national 
reputation and taking him frequently to the Supreme Court of the 
United States. In response to the general desire of the patent 
lawyers of the country, Mr. Mitchell was appointed Commissioner of 
Patents by President Harrison. During his service as commissioner, 
he conducted its affairs on sound business principles, introducing 
various reforms, and brought the work of issuing patents into a 
condition equal to the pressure of the incoming applications, a most 
important step. In the fall of 1891 he resigned and removed to 
New York, where he practiced his profession very assiduously until 
1903, when he returned to Connecticut and soon resumed his residence 
in New Britain. 

Confining his efforts and interests to his profession, Mr. Mitchell 
has generally held aloof from public life, and as he has never sought 
political office, his excursions into politics have been so slight as to 
hardly amount to exceptions to his rule of adhering to one purpose 
in life. He is a Eepublican in political creed, and although at times 
not wholly satisfied with the policies of his party, he has never desired 
to shift his allegiance. In 1880 and 1881 he was a member of the 
Connecticut House. In 1880 he was chairman of the committee on 
corporations and in 1881 an influential member of the judiciary com- 
mittee. In the presidential campaigns of 1884 and 1888 he made 
several speeches. He was the first city attorney of New Britain. 

During his residence in New York, he was principally engaged in 
electric litigation, being employed by the General Electric Company 
in many cases relating to Edison's incandescent lamp and other 
electrical inventions. At one time and another he has been con- 
cerned in litigations involving the inventions of Edison, Tesla, Brush, 
Thomson, and others of the great inventors of the electrical art. 

Besides his legal and occasional political interests, Mr. Mitchell 
lias always been deeply interested in the material, moral, and reli- 



CHARLES ELLIOTT MITCHELL 481 

gious life of his home city. In addition to holding the presidency 
of the Stanley Rule & Level Company he is director in various other 
manufacturing companies. Recently, owing to his somewhat impaired 
eyesight, he has withdrawn to some extent from the practice of law. 
He is a member of the American Bar Association, of the Association 
of the Bar of the City of New York, the Hartford County Bar, the 
Century Association, the University Club, the Hardware Club, the 
New Britain Club, the New England Society, and while in New 
York was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of 
that city. 

Mr. Mitchell was married to Cornelia A. Chamberlain, a sister 
of Ex-Governor Chamberlain, in 1866. They have three sons, Robert 
C, Charles H., and George Henry. The eldest and youngest are 
practicing law in New York. Charles H. is clerk of the city and 
police courts of New Britain. 

It has been said that Mr. Mitchell's motto in life has been "to 
deserve success," believing that the constitution of things is such 
that success can be obtained in that way better than in any other. 



ELLIE NEWTON SPEEEY 

S PERRY, ELLIE NEWTON, manufacturer, was born in Wood- 
bridge, New Haven County, Connecticut, January 18th, 1857. 
His father, Milo D. Sperry, son of Elihu and Anna (Lines) 
Sperry, was a hard-working farmer, of sterling honesty, who married 
Mary Lucinda, daughter of Lewis and Lucinda (Higgins) Newton 
of Woodbridge. His first ancestor in America was Richard Sperry, 
a native of Wales, who arrived in the New Haven Colony about 1643. 

EUie Newton Sperry was a child in the possession of fair health, 
brought up in the country, and accustomed to hard work on his 
father's farm from his very early boyhood. Farm work was dis- 
tasteful to the ambitious lad and his inclination was in the direction 
of machinery and manufacturing. His mother was his moral guide 
and her example and patient helpfulness largely directed his life. His 
school training was limited to the primary school and to self- 
instruction largely derived from books on mechanics and manufactur- 
ing. 

His duty to his family enforced him to remain on the farm until 
he was twenty-five years of age and in the meantime he had married, 
October 8th, 1879, Lida Adaline, daughter of Marcus Earl and 
Martha Ann (Peck) Baldwin of Woodbridge. They have two 
children. Bertha Lida, born February 1, 1881, and Ralph Milo, born 
May 10th, 1883. 

In 1882 he left the farm and took a position in a manufacturing 
concern, which change in vocation was the beginning of a successful 
life work. The business he engaged in was carried on by the 
Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport and he rose to the 
position of treasurer and general manager and in 1892 resigned his 
official position to organize the Bridgeport Hardware Manufacturing 
Company. This business he sold out in 1902 and returned to the 
Monumental Bronze Company and soon after was elected president 
of the concern. 

He served his adopted city as an alderman and president of the 



ELLIE NEWTON SPERRY 483 

board; a police commissioner and president of the board of police; 
a member of the board of charities; as president of the Bridgeport 
Board of Trade, and in various other capacities where his duty or the 
choice of his fellow citizens called him. He has been a director of the 
Bridgeport National Bank since 1890, and a trustee, receiver, or agent 
of numerous estates, etc. As a manufacturer he has taken out several 
patents used in the business. He is a member of the Seaside, Brook- 
lawn Country, and Yacht clubs of Bridgeport and was for a time 
governor of the Bridgeport Yacht Club. His political atfiliation is 
with the Republican party and he has never found occasion to change 
his allegiance to that party. He attends the Congregational Church 
and is a liberal contributor to the various charities directed by that 
denomination. 

To young men Mr. Sperry gives this advice: "Be honest, 
systematic, work early and late, never be afraid that you will do more 
than your share, and strike when the iron is hot." 



FRANCIS TAYLOR MAXWELL 

MAXWELL, COL. FRANCIS TAYLOR, State senator and 
treasurer of the Hockanum Manufacturing Company, was 
born in Rockville, Tolland County, Connecticut, Jan- 
uary 4th, 1861. He is the son of the late Hon. George Maxwell and 
Harriet Kellogg Maxwell. His father was treasurer of the Hockanum 
Company and one of the most prominent men of his town. George 
Maxwell founded the Rockville Public Library and was greatly inter- 
ested in the Congregational Church of which he was a deacon. 

The founder of the Maxwell family in America was Hugh Max- 
well, who came to this country in 1733. He, like the other ancestors, 
was of Scotch-Irish descent. He bore a distinguished part in the 
French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and was wounded at 
the battle of Bunker Hill, in which he took part as captain of a 
company of minute men. 

Spending his youth in the town of Rockville, Colonel M^axwell 
received his education at the public schools of that town. He was 
an earnest student and was graduated from the Rockville High School 
in the class of 1878. He entered immediately upon his business 
career, his first position being with the Hockanum Manufacturing 
Company in 1878. He was soon made secretary of the company, and 
upon the death of his father he was made treasurer. Besides this 
position, which Colonel Maxwell still holds, there are many other 
offices which he fills. He is director in the New England and 
Springville manufacturing companies, in the ^tna Indemnity Com- 
pany of Hartford, in the Rockville National Bank, the Rockville 
Building and Loan Association, the National Fire Insurance Com- 
pany of Hartford, and also in the Rockville Fire Insurance Company. 
Colonel Maxwell is a vice-president of the Connecticut Red Cross 
Society, a member of the American Geographical Society, the Metro- 
politan Museum, New York, and the Hartford Club. He is president 
of the Rockville Public Library, which his father founded. Colonel 
Maxwell takes an active interest in politics, and has always been a 





^i/KJe.o^ 




FRANCIS TAYLOR MAXWELL 487 

thorough Republican. In 1896, he served in the common council of 
Rockville, and in 1898 he represented the town of Vernon in the State 
Legislature, serving on the committee on insurance as chairman 
during his term of office. In 1900 he was State senator from the 23rd 
district, this time serving as chairman on the committee on education. 

Besides his business and political positions, Colonel Maxwell has 
been active in military affairs. As colonel on the staff of Gov. Morgan 
G. Bulkeley, he represented his city and State at the World's Fair in 
Chicago in 1893. 

On November 18th, 1896, Colonel Maxwell married Florence 
Russell Parsons, whose ancestors were prominent Colonial settlers in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts. Three daughters have been born to 
Colonel and Mrs. Maxwell. 

Colonel Maxwell is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars 
and of the Sons of the Revolution. He is a member of the Union 
Congregational Church, and in his church interests as well as in 
business and public service he consistently upholds the creditable 
example of his father. 



JAMES MARION EMERSON 

EMERSON, JAMES MARION, editor of the Ansonia Sentinel 
is a Maryland man by birth, having been born in Denton, 
Caroline County, in that state, on December 14th, 1845, but 
he belongs to-day, not to Ansonia and New Haven County alone, but 
to all the State of Connecticut. 

His "father before him," John H. Emerson, was an editor and 
deputy assessor of internal revenue; a man of marked characteristics, 
positive and firm in his convictions. He came of early English stock 
as did his wife, Sarah L. Emerson. The family records were 
destroyed by the fire which burned the Dorchester County Court 
House. 

After spending his boyhood in the country and attending the « 
Denton Academy, Mr, Emerson finished his studies in Washington I 
College, Chestertown, Maryland, where he was graduated with the 
class of '63. He began at once upon his career as a newspaper man. 
His first position was that of editor of a weekly paper in Denton, and 
he made a success of it. 

In 1876 he came to Ansonia, where he bought the Ansonia Senti- 
nel, then a weekly, and the job printing office in connection. The 
community was then small and was well served by dailies 
from New Haven and Waterbury, but from the weekly to an 
evening daily was but a short step. Not only in Ansonia, Derby, 
Birmingham, and throiighout the Naugatuck Valley had 
readers been attracted by the virility of the Sentinel, but people 
throughout the State had come to look with interest for the senti- 
ments of the editor, particularly in State affairs. There was no par- 
tisan bias, but just the simple, straightforward opinion of a keen ob- 
server and an independent commentator. Newswise, also, the paper 
is clean, honest, and enterprising. 

Mr. Emerson is a Republican in politics, but partisanship has 
no part in the policy of his paper. In his religious faith he is a 
Congregationalist. Had he had a taste for political preferment, Mr. 



JAMES MARION EMERSON 489 

Emerson has had no time to devote to the duties of elective office ; the 
responsibility of the editorial chair has commanded all his energy 
and faculties, and his fellow citizens recognize that there he gives 
them most faithful service. 

Mr. Emerson has been married twice. His first wife was Lizzie 
NT. Steward of New Jersey, who died in 1871. His present wife was 
Julia B. Foord of Delaware. He has had six children, of whom three, 
Howard Foord, John Ralph, and Lilian May, are living. His home 
is ut No. 38 William Street, Ansonia. 



ARTHUR LINCOLN GILLETT 

GILLETT, ARTHUR LmCOLN, A.M., D.D., clergyman, and 
professor of apologetics at the Hartford Theological Seminary, 
was born in Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, Janu- 
ary 5th, 1859. He is descended from Jonathan Gillett, who came 
from England to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630, and afterwards 
removed to Windsor, Connecticut, and from William Fowler, who 
came from England to Boston in 1637 and the following year settled 
in New Haven. Doctor Gillett's parents were Edward Bates and 
Lucy Douglas (Fowler) Gillett. His father was a lawyer, a most 
brilliant speaker, and a writer gifted with a rare literary style and he 
was also a man of prominence in public life, having been State 
representative and senator and district attorney for fourteen years. 

In boyhood Arthur Gillett was healthy and strong and his early 
days were spent in the country in the usual "New England way." He 
prepared for college at the Westfield High School and at Williston 
Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and then entered Amherst 
College. He was graduated from Amherst in 1880 with the A.B. 
degree. He then studied for three years at the Hartford Theological 
Seminary, where he was graduated in 1883. He returned to Hartford 
for a year of post-graduate study, and the same year, 1884, received 
the degree of A.M. from Amherst College. The summer following he 
entered upon his miniitry at Plymouth (Congregational) Church, Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin, where he acted as pastor's assistant. After a year's 
service in this church he left to become pastor of Plymouth Church, 
Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he remained three years, at the 
end of which, in 1888, he returned East and was engaged as an 
instructor at the Hartford Theological Seminary, with which insti- 
tution he has been connected ever since that time. From 1889 to 
1891 he studied in Germany as fellow of the Hartford Seminary. Tn 
1890 he became associate professor of his subject, apologetics, and 
since 1895 he has been professor. Since 189-1 he has been editor in 
chief of the Hartford Seminary Record. 



AETHUE LINCOLN GILLETT 491 

In 1901 Amherst College conferred upon Professor Gillett the 
honorary degree of D.D. Since 1900 he has been a trustee of Smith 
College and since 1903 he has been a member of the prudential com- 
mittee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
He is a member of the American Oriental Society, belonging to the 
section for comparative religion, and also of the American Philo- 
sophical Association. In politics he is a Eepublican. On June 23nd, 
1887, Doctor Gillett married Mary Bradford Swift of Hartford, 
who died January 15th, 1901. Two of her three sons survive her. 



LIST OF FULL PAGE PORTRAITS 



VOLUME I 



PAGE 

Max Adler 343 

Simeon E. Baldwin 91 

Charles E. Billings 435 

Theodore Bodenwein 35 

Frank B. Brandegee 55 

Morgan G. Bulkeley 47 

David N. Camp 408 

Walter Camp 429 

Abiram Chamberlain 149 

WiUiam H. Chapman 443 

Charles H. Clark 331 

WilUam B. Clark 310 

O. Vincent Coffin 160 

James S. Elton 451 

Henry F. English 381 

Jacob L. Greene 458 

William A. Grippin 301 

Arthur T. Hadley 105 

Frederic B. Hall 87 

William Hamersley 97 

Alfred E. Hammer 470 

William H. Hart 397 

E, Stevens Henry 64 

Edwin W. Higgins 77 

Ebenezer J. Hill 70 

John M. Holcombe 391 

Marcus H. Holcomb 363 

George H. Hoyt 389 

Frederick J. Kingsbury 180 

Everett J. Lake 354 



PAGE 

George L. Lilley 75 

Charles H. Lounsbury 260 

George E. Lounsbury 173 

Phineas 0. Lounsbury 176 

Flavel S. Luther, Jr 134 

Francis W. Marsh 333 

Frank T. Maxwell 485 

Charles S. Mellen 370 

Orange Merwin 280 

Asahel Mitchell 48 

Charles E. Mitchell 478 

George P. McLean 153 

Henry H. Peck 337 

Miles Lewis Peck 336 

Samuel O. Prentice 101 

Bradford P. Raymond 136 

Henry Roberts 25 

Albert L. Sessions 313 

William E, Sessions 303 

DeWitt C. SMlton 346 

Nehemiah D. Sperry 59 

James Swan 416 

John M. Taylor 463 

David Torrance 81 

Thomas M. Waller 165 

James F. Walsh 39 

Pierce N. Welch 251 

Eli Whitney 370 

Frank L. Wilcox 191 

Rollin S. Woodruff 31 



LIST OF BIOGRAPHIES 



VOLUME I 



PAGE 

Max Adler 242 

John W. Ailing 274 

Wilbur O. Atwater 316 

Simeon E. Baldwin 90 

Elmore S. Banks 263 

Royal M. Bassett 432 

Henry A. Beers 120 

Alvah N. Belding 254 

Francis G. Benedict 140 

Edward B. Bennett 194 

Frank L. Bigelow 454 

Charles E. BilMngs 434 

Theodore Bodenwein 34 

Frank B. Brandegee 54 

Lewis O. Brastow 217 

Burton G. Bryan 257 

John R. Buck 237 

Morgan G. Bulkeley 46 

Willie O. Burr 265 

David N. Camp 409 

Walter Camp 428 

Abiram Chamberlain 148 

Charles F. Chapin 357 

William H. Chapman 442 

Louis R. Cheney 240 

Russell H. Chittenden 116 

Charles H. Clark 230 

William B. Clark 211 

O. Vincent Coffin 161 

Herbert W. Conn 145 

Homer S. Cummings 386 

Howard J. Curtis 358 

William P. Curtiss 456 

Ralph W. Cutler 184 

Charles S. Davidson 323 

James D. Dewell 360 

Arthur M. Dickinson 334 

Charles A. Dinsmore 376 



rAGB 

Charles L. Edwards 378 

James S. Elton 450 

James M. Emerson 488 

Albert H. Emery 351 

Henry F. English 380 

Henry W. Famam 294 

Henry Ferguson 132 

Irving Fisher 298 

Charles N. Flagg 366 

Karl W. Genthe 134 

Arthur L. Gillett 490 

Arthur L. Goodrich 448 

Jacob L. Greene 459 

William A. Grippin 200 

Arthur T. Hadley 104 

John H. Hale 402 

Frederic B. Hall 86 

William Hamersley 96 

Alfred E. Hammer 471 

A. Park Hammond 246 

Samuel Hart 426 

Wilham H. Hart 396 

William F. Henney 235 

E. Stevens Henry 65 

Edwin W. Higgins 76 

Ebenezer J. HiU 71 

John M. Holcombe 290 

Marcus H. Holcomb 362 

Thomas Hooker 276 

George H. Hoyt 388 

John Day Jackson 373 

Charles F. Johnson 130 

Edwin O. Keeler 267 

Greene Kendrick 392 

Arthur R. Kimball 311 

Frederick J. Kingsbury 181 

Oscar Kuhns 320 

Henry R. Lang 307 



PAGE 

William M. Lathxop 394 

Walter J. Leavenworth 342 

Charles H. Leeds 475 

Greorge L. Lilley 74 

Edward Keeler Lockwood 198 

Charles H. Lotmsbnry. 261 

George E. Loiinsbury 173 

Phineas C. Lounsbury 177 

Thomas R. Lounsbury 432 

Flavel S. Luther, Jr 125 

Everett J. Lake 355 

Burton Mansfield 205 

Mahlon H. Marlin 431 

Francis W. Marsh 233 

Frank T. Maxwell 484 

William Maxwell 348 

Archibald McNeil 340 

Charles S. Mellen 371 

Watson J. Miller 439 

Asahel Mitchell 43 

Charles E. Mitchell 479 

Edwin K. Mitchell 446 

John R. Montgomery 441 

Orange Merwin 281 

William D. Morgan 188 

George P. McLean 153 

Henry H. Peck 336 

Miles Lewis Peck 827 

Moses A. Pendleton 344 

Henry A. Perkins 368 

John J. Phelan 349 

Charles W. Pickett 473 

Edgar L. Pond 207 

Samuel O. Prentice 100 

Bradford P. Raymond 137 



PAGk 

Stephen E. Reed 330 

Charles B. Richards 309 

Eugene L. Richards 382 

Henry Roberts 24 

A. Heaton Robertson 215 

Judson H. Root 411 

Albert L. Sessions 312 

WilKam E. Sessions 302 

William W. Skiddy hS2 

DeWitt C. Skilton 347 

Herbert K. Smith 219 

Alfred Spencer, Jr 186 

Ellie N. Sperry 483 

Nehemiah D. Sperry 58 

George B. Stevens 287 

James Swan 417 

Horace D. Taft 339 

James U. Taintor 405 

John M. Taylor 463 

David Torrance 80 

Morris F. Tyler 2ao 

George C. Waldo 384 

Frank A. Wallace 227 

Thomas M. Waller 164 

James F. Walsh 38 

George D. Watrous 196 

Pierce N. Welch 250 

Walter O. Whitcomb 413 

Henry C. White 278 

Herbert H. White 467 

Eli Whitney 371 

Frank L. Wilcox 190 

Caleb T. Winchester 142 

Rollin S. Woodruff 80 

Henry P. Wright 110 



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